NBA superstar LeBron James, who has already missed four games with a strained left groin, will miss at least three more before being re-evaluated, the Los Angeles Lakers announced Friday.
James suffered the injury on December 25 when the Lakers beat defending NBA champion Golden State 127-101. The Lakers have dropped three of four games without the four-time NBA Most Valuable Player.
The Lakers said James will not play Friday at home against New York or travel on the club’s road trip to Minnesota on Sunday and Dallas on Monday.
James, who has been receiving daily treatment by the Lakers training and medical staff, is making progress on his recovery and will be re-evaluated in a week, making his availability for next Wednesday’s home game against Detroit unlikely.
His next evaluation would come next Friday, the same day the Lakers visit Utah. Two days later, the Lakers will entertain James’s former club, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
James, a three-time NBA champion who has played in the past eight NBA Finals, left Cleveland in July to sign with the Lakers.
James ranks fifth in the NBA in scoring with 27.3 points a game and is also averaging 8.3 rebounds and 7.1 assists a game.
At 21-17, the Lakers hold the eighth and final playoff position in the Western Conference.
