LeBron James struggled in the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ Game 5 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. A collision with Donte DiVincenzo might have been a big part of those struggles.
DiVincenzo and James collided as they were pursuing a rebound with just under nine minutes to go in Minnesota’s 103-96 win. The officials whistled DiVincenzo for a foul and James limped off the court, though he returned minutes later. For the rest of the game, James shot 2-of-6, with one of those makes coming on an uncontested layup with the Lakers trailing by eight points with 33 seconds left.
According to sources, James sprained his MCL, an injury that normally takes three to five weeks to recover from, but he will have all summer to rehabilitate it. James had been nearly indestructible early in his career, missing only a handful of games in each of his first 15 seasons. But in Los Angeles, where James headed for his age-34 seasons, he’s begun to deal with more nagging injuries.
In 2020-21, a high-ankle sprain cost James 27 games, though he returned for the final two games of the regular season and the playoffs. In 2022-23, James hurried back from a foot injury to lead the Lakers to two playoff series wins. This season, he missed two weeks in March with a groin strain.
After the final game of the 2018 NBA Finals, James showed up at his postgame news conference with his hand in a cast, reportedly from punching a white board in anger after his team lost Game 1 of the series in OT. (James’ Cleveland Cavaliers would get swept.)
Now that James is 40, collisions like the one he had in Game 5 aren’t as easy to shake off. Especially after his coach played him the entire second half of the previous game. James is still playing at a high level at age 40, but his body is finally showing his age.
