LeBron James Injury Update: Medical Clearance Doesn't Mean Quick Return, Agent Warns

LeBron James has been cleared to return to practice next week after he was re-evaluated by the medical staff Wednesday. He will miss the Los Angeles Lakers’ upcoming road trip to Oklahoma to face the Thunders and to Houston when they take on the Rockets.

The small forward has missed the last 11 games for the Lakers after sustaining a groin strain during their 26-point win over the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day. Luke Walton’s team have struggled without their talisman and have dropped from fourth to eighth in the Western Conference after going 4-7 in that period.

“LeBron James was evaluated by team medical staff and physicians today. James, who will not travel with the team on the upcoming two-game road trip, has been cleared to return to practice commencing next week, and then progress towards a return to game and play thereafter,” Lakers said via a statement on their official website.

Coach Walton explained on Tuesday that they expected to get good news as James, for the first time after sustaining the injury had taken to court and completed half-court passing and shooting drills. Their recent struggles, especially their loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers – the worst team in the NBA at the moment – will give Thunder and Rockets more of an edge going into the game.

It is unclear at the moment when James will return to action and him being allowed to return to practice only next week could mean that he will also miss the visit of the Warriors to Staple Center on Monday night. He could possibly return for the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Jan. 24.

However, James’ agent Rich Paul has cautioned against expecting a quick return for the three-time NBA champion despite medical staff giving him clearance to begin practice next week. The forward’s representative acknowledged that James will increase his work load on the practice court, and will be put on the day-to-day list.

But Paul made it very clear that the 14-time NBA All-Star will not be rushing his return and will only step on to the court when he is satisfied with his fitness and indicated that he could well miss more than a week. The groin is a very sensitive area and they are aware that rushing his return could very well aggravate it and cause further damage in the long run.

We don't give a sh-- what nobody thinks or says," Paul said during a conference call, as quoted on CBS Sports. "We're going to do what's best for him. The best-case scenario was three weeks, the worst-case was six weeks, and we're right on schedule. He'll improve his workload, and he'll be day to day from there.”

"Now day to day doesn't mean tomorrow or the next day (he'll be back). Day to day means that after each day of his workload, we'll evaluate it, and when he feels his best he'll play. However long it takes, it'll take. We're not on nobody else's timeline.

"Look, LeBron is in his 16th year, and he's a proven guy," Paul explained. "He doesn't owe nothing to nobody. When he's ready to be back, he'll be back. It's as simple as that. Until then, he's going to root his teammates on and try to help them as best as he can."