LeBron James paid the price for his big hustle play over the weekend.
The Los Angeles Lakers star James had a key moment in Saturday’s game against the Denver Nuggets. In the final minute of the fourth quarter at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif., the Lakers were trailing 112-111 when Nuggets forward Cameron Johnson missed a wide-open three-point attempt.
The ensuing rebound caromed wildly back towards the middle of the floor, and James went full-extension in diving for the loose ball, beating two Nuggets to it before Jamal Murray forced the held ball on him. Here is the video.
LEBRON DIVING ON THE FLOOR AT AGE 41
— ESPN (@espn) March 15, 2026
HUSTLE BY THE KING pic.twitter.com/wZ9PCoNzZ8
In a post to his Instagram Story on Monday, James revealed that he got a nasty scrape on his knee as a result of sliding across the floor on his dive. James also shared a photo of the damage.
“Might be it for diving for the year!” James wrote. “Ouch!! LOL!”
LeBron reveals that he cut his knee as a result of this play https://t.co/yxvwZCpJqr pic.twitter.com/2ZJTKZ5kvf
— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) March 16, 2026
The 41-year-old James actually went on to lose the ensuing jump ball to Murray. But Lakers teammate Marcus Smart stole the ball away from Denver’s Aaron Gordon just seconds later for the go-ahead layup, meaning that James was at least able to set the crucial sequence in motion.
James’ Lakers co-stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves also played a big part in the eventual 127-125 overtime victory over the Nuggets. They each had some subsequent heroics in clutch time to deliver the win for the Lakers.
