Lakers Injury Report: Darvin Ham Mum On Status Of LeBron James' Ankle

Should we be worried about his Game 3 status?

All-NBA Los Angeles Lakers small forward LeBron James scared LA fans in the second half of his team's eventual 108-103 defeat at the hands of the scary-good Denver Nuggets last night. He appeared to turn his left ankle while landing on Anthony Davis' foot as they fought Nuggets power forward Aaron Gordon for a defensive rebound in the paint. 

James, all 6'9" and 250 pounds of him (let's be real, more like 270), crumpled onto the floor for a bit, holding onto the ankle in pain, while play continued on the other end. Austin Reaves nailed a corner triple with Denver playing five-on-four. James stayed in the game, no doubt because he appreciated the stakes of the bout, but he certainly seemed a step slow for much of the night, blowing several point-blank looks at the rim and some pull-up jumpers.

Physical therapist/Fox Sports Radio injury analyst Dr. Evan Jeffries prescribed the ailment as a lateral ankle sprain:

That’s a lateral ankle sprain for LeBron pic.twitter.com/o4ZoQRTBDH

— Dr. Evan Jeffries, DPT (@GameInjuryDoc) May 19, 2023

After the game, head coach Darvin Ham provided little update on the status of James' ankle health, offering only that "it will be hard to keep him out" of Saturday's matchup, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

James, meanwhile, informed Chris Haynes of TNT that he intended to play through the injury.

"I'll be ready on Saturday," James said. "I just stepped on the foot of AG [in reality, it looked like Davis' foot, not Gordon's]. Nothing is keeping me from playing."

The loss dropped the Lakers to an 0-2 record in their best-of-seven Western Conference Finals playoff series. A basically must-win Game 3 tips off at 5:30 p.m. in Crypto.com Arena tomorrow.

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