LeBron James being ruled out for the first 3 to 4 weeks of the upcoming NBA season has come as a bolt of shock to LA Lakers fans. They had already been wondering what the future held for the 40-year-old after reports stated he would not be getting an extension on his existing contract.
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On top of that, the Lakers have already signed Luka Doncic to be the next face of the purple and gold nation, which has led the likes of Skip Bayless to claim that James isn’t even injured but is just throwing a tantrum.
Meanwhile, there are those who believe that James is suffering from an itch in the nerve and has indeed been diagnosed with sciatica. And some of them have placed the blame squarely on the four-time NBA champion’s recent golf exploits. So, which is it?
Well, unless Bayless can come up with concrete proof, it must be assumed that James is in a world of pain right now. As for whether the injury is golf-related, NBA insider Brian Windhorst has the answer.
“Let me deal with the elephant in the room,” Windhorst began on NBA Today, adding, “because I know I got a lot of text messages about this when the Lakers announced it.”
“People were asking me, ‘Was this a golf-related injury? Because LeBron played golf all summer. And sciatica is something that happens to golfers.’ Let me just point something out,” Windhorst continued.
“For a right-handed golfer, sciatica typically happens on your left side because that’s where the torque is. That’s where the turn is. Although LeBron doesn’t lead the league in making great turns, but he’s getting better. So this is an injury that is related to basketball,” he added with conviction.
Windhorst was also happy to further clear the air and point out that LeBron had an injury at the beginning of the summer.
“At the end of the Lakers‘ season, he hurt his knee. He sprained his knee, and he was out for about 6 weeks recovering from that injury. So his entire summer of maintenance and ramp-up was off. So that is a factor, not only does he deal with the sciatica but he ramps up coming back. That’s why the Lakers want to take this carefully,” he noted.
Windhorst also reminded viewers that James has had back and disc issues in the past. Even though he doesn’t claim that’s the core issue here, Windhorst revealed that James has had to undergo an epidural to deal with the lower back issues.
He also noted that while this is bad news for the Lakers, they are right to take things slow with LeBron’s recovery. After all, they don’t need the future Hall of Famer to be firing all cylinders in November or December, but rather after the new year, as the Lakers push deeper into their campaign toward the spring.
