Dealing With an MCL Injury, LeBron James Reveals How Daughter Zhuri Keeps His Mind Off Recovery Struggles

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were sent home by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. During that series, James encountered a stray contact with Donte Divincenzo and ended up with a torn MCL. LeBron has faced only a few major injuries in his career, as he has been an iron man since day one.

LeBron has stayed relatively healthy but is not new to rehab. James has been a fan of a process called “bio-hacking” by which he uses advanced scientific methods to prepare his body for the grind of a season. He credits his regimen as a large part of why he’s still playing 22 years after being drafted in 2003.

Now, he is preparing for an arduous return. At 40 years old, James is struggling to recover as quickly as he would like. He spoke on his podcast, Mind the Game, with cohost Steve Nash about how difficult the past few weeks have already been.

“Even though I can’t do much as far as lower body stuff, I’m still in the weight room, I can still get it in the upper body. I’m not a guy that likes to sit around … They tell you to take at least two weeks off at the end of the season, but I’m just not that guy,” started James. “I’m going crazy right now. Stir crazy.”

Being cooped up and unable to do what you normally would is a unique type of pain. It is one that most of us only know by being stuck in bed with an illness instead of with a major ligament tear, but it’s something many can relate to nonetheless.

As the old adage says, there is no better recovery method than laughter. The youngest child of the James family, Zhuri, has been helping her father in that regard.

As he went on, James shared that he wanted to spend more time swimming, largely due to its health benefits, before admitting that his daughter was a huge part of the motivation. “I can mess around a little bit with my daughter, so that helps. Just trying to stay active … My daughter is a big pool girl, so that definitely is a reason for me to get in there,” said LeBron.

James has a history of working out with Zhuri in attendance and plans to continue that this offseason. Whether she’s a good luck charm or a minor participant is uncertain, but if she keeps him having fun, there’s no way it could be a bad thing.