LeBron James is back.
After missing seven games with a left groin muscle strain, the Los Angeles Lakers star forward returned for Saturday night’s 146-115 loss to the Chicago Bulls, two weeks after he sustained the injury March 8 against the Celtics.
This comes as welcome news for Los Angeles, which struggled at times to keep pace in the Western Conference since James got hurt; after winning eight of the first 11 games Luka Dončić played in since the team acquired him in a blockbuster trade, the Lakers lost four of the seven games James missed with the groin issue.
Los Angeles (43-26) also has been dealing with various other injuries, including respective knee ailments that sidelined center Jaxson Hayes and forward Rui Hachimura — both starters — and an ankle issue backup forward Dorian Finney-Smith has been managing.
With so many key players absent, opposing defenses swarmed Dončić, trying to force the ball out of his hands and disrupting Los Angeles’ offensive rhythm.
James, 40, had been producing at levels comparable to his final MVP season, which came during the 2012-13 season when he played for the Miami Heat. In 58 games this year, James is averaging 25.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game.
Before Los Angeles’ first game without James, a March 10 loss against a Brooklyn Nets team that entered the night on a seven-game losing streak, coach JJ Reddick had said he had not gotten any clarity on the severity of the injury and that James was “still being evaluated to some degree.”
James, however, did not appear to favor the injury as he walked around the floor during timeouts and during celebrations when the Lakers scored. He remained an active presence with the team as he received treatment for the injury.
“Not much concern,” James had said March 8 of the injury. “Obviously day-to-day and look at it each day and see if it gets better and then take the proper measures and see what we need to do moving forward.”
James has previously dealt with groin issues; during the 2018-19 season, James missed 17 games with a groin strain suffered Christmas Day, though the injury lingered through the remainder of that season.
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer, James recently became the first player in league history to surpass 50,000 combined points in the regular season and playoffs.
What did LeBron James do during return vs. Bulls?
James played 31 minutes, 25 seconds, recording 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and three assists.