LeBron James got a souvenir during his team’s Olympic victory over Brazil.
James and Team USA advanced to the semifinal round on Tuesday with a lopsided 122-87 win over Brazil. While the game was mostly uncompetitive, you would not know it based off the looks of James’ left eye.
During the third quarter, Los Angeles Lakers star James took an inadvertent elbow above his eye from Brazil’s Georginho de Paula. While anticipating a rebound, an airborne de Paula accidentally elbowed a stationary James, who was standing underneath the basket.
You can see the video of the play here.
James immediately slumped to the court in pain and eventually left the game to go to the locker room. He would later return to the bench but had a visible wound above his eye.
Lebron getting on his knees for a eye injury I’ve seen it all pic.twitter.com/Ig1z8noTTz
— PERK (@Perkchii) August 6, 2024
LeBron left the quarterfinals game vs. Brazil after an elbow to the eye. pic.twitter.com/xeSW3TGM6R
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 6, 2024
The 39-year-old James did not return to the contest but probably did not have to since Team USA was up by 23 points at the time of his exit and went on to win by 35. James also told reporters after the game that he was fine.
“I’m ok. I just got hit with an inadvertent elbow,” LeBron James said. https://t.co/NBbziP2bRy
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) August 6, 2024
James finished the game with nine points, three assists, and two blocks in his 17 minutes of play against Brazil. He should ultimately be good to go for Team USA’s next game on Thursday against Nikola Jokic and Serbia in the semifinal round (though James may be seeing three baskets again like the last time he hurt his eye).
