LeBron James has apparently been dealing with his injury for a good amount of time now.
The Los Angeles Lakers star James has been battling his nerve issue since late July, Shams Charania of ESPN reported Friday during an appearance on “NBA Today.” Charania says that James initially developed the injury during an on-court workout over the summer and has now been dealing with the injury for two-and-a-half months and counting.
We learned earlier this week that James was being plagued by a sciatica issue on his right side and would miss the beginning of the regular season as a result. With sciatica occurring most commonly in older people, fans quickly expressed concern over social media about James’ injury.
James will be turning 41 years old in December and is about to enter his 23rd season in the NBA. This year will mark the very first time in James’ career that he is not available to play in the season opener.
The four-time NBA champion James was still close to the top of his game last season, averaging 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game over 70 total appearances. He also posted strong shooting splits of 51/38/78.
But James is notably under contract for just this coming season at $52.6 million. He recently made some cryptic comments about his playing future, and now the nagging sciatica injury (especially for a player with the age and mileage of James) will only increase the speculation that this may be the final season of his storied NBA career.
