LeBron James Might Not Play In Season Opener Game Between Cavs And Celtics
LeBron James aggravated his ankle injury when he played in the preseason game last Tuesday. With his sprained ankle, the Cavaliers are not sure if he can make it to the 2017-2018 NBA season opener game against the Boston Celtics.
LeBron did not play in Friday’s preseason finale against the Orlando Magic because of his sore ankle. He sprained his left ankle during practice and missed almost two weeks of training camp. He made his preseason debut last Tuesday in the game against the Chicago Bulls because he wanted to test his ankle before the season opener, but it only aggravated his injury.
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue told reporters, “Got treatment all day today, so I’m not sure if we should be concerned or not. But it’s pretty sore today, so we’ll just see what happens.”
This would be the first time that James would miss a season opener in all of his NBA seasons. Lue said James is “pretty mad” about his injury, but he might need more time off.
According to ESPN, the Cavs held a long practice on Wednesday to prepare the team to play with or without LeBron. While James is absent, JR Smith will return to the first unit. He lost his shooting guard spot to Dwyane Wade in the new starting lineup, the Cavs announced. Guard Jose Calderon also entered the rotation. The team won against the Magic on Friday at 113-106 without LeBron.
The game between the Cavs and the Celtics on Tuesday is a much-anticipated one for several reasons. One of which is that Kyrie Irving was traded upon his request and landed in Boston. People were also surprised with Danny Ainge’s decision to let go of Isaiah Thomas to get Irving, and then there’s ill will from Jae Crowder toward Gordon Hayward, according to CBS Boston.
#SLAMTop50 No. 1: LeBron James
Can't stop the reign. ?? https://t.co/jDhKwxIOcQ pic.twitter.com/81JTdKhwRF
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) October 13, 2017
In other news, the Cavs agreed to trade Richard Jefferson and Kay Felder to the Atlanta Hawks, along with two conditional second-round draft picks in 2019 and 2020 and $3 million. The Hawks will give the European draft rights to Dimitrios Agravanis and Sergiy Gladyr. They also intend to waive Jefferson and Felder after the deal is completed, which is expected to happen on Saturday.
[Featured Image by Theo Wargo/NBC/Getty Images]
