LeBron James reveals his knee injury will need 4-6 weeks to recover

It seems that LeBron James‘ injury was more serious than were initially thought it was, as the oldest player in the NBA suffered an MCL sprain in Game 5 of their first-round playoff elimination series against the Wolves. Days later, the superstar addressed his health on his own podcast show. 

After colliding with rival Donte DiVincenzo in the fourth quarter, the 40-year-old was able to finish the game but he was visibly limping afterwards. On the most recent episode of his Mind The Game, James explained the nature of the injury and the length of his recovery period.

“I knew as soon as when the impact happened with me and DiVincenzo, I felt it right away. My knee locked up, and that’s why I stayed on the ground for quite a minute to see, if the knee would kind of release a little bit, but I knew right then and there it was a pain that I hadn’t felt before,” he said.

He recalled crashing into Minnesota guard and how his knee bent. “And I think, obviously, when I was running back to close out and he collided into me, my knee bent inward and that’s the MCL injury that I have,” LeBron shared. “Four to six weeks, the docs told me, I have four or six weeks now.

“That’s the benefit of not going on in the postseason. Obviously, I wish I was still going, but, unfortunately, even if we would have won Game 5 at home, I would probably miss six and seven and even further,” the forward said, acknowledging he would’ve not been able to continue the series.

Alongside his co-host Steve Nash, the veteran had some days off to further reflect on the Lakers elimination, mostly praising the Timberwolves. “I’ve had all those emotions, to the point where it’s like, s–t, we entered the season well, but like you said, when it comes to the postseason, man, matchups sometimes doesn’t determine how well of a regular season you had, it’s the matchups.

“And we ran into a d–n good matchup, a team that’s been battle-tested, a team that’s hungry, a team with a lot of youth but also experience at the same time, and another team that’s trying to make the next step. And, they were a worthy opponent, that’s for sure,” James assured.