LOS ANGELES — LeBron James sat out the final eight minutes of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 116-109 opening night loss to the LA Clippers after rolling his left ankle, but afterward insisted he will be clear to play on Christmas Day.
“I turned it pretty good, but I don’t think it’s going to stop me from playing on Friday,” James said, looking ahead to the Lakers’ matchup with Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks. “So, have a couple days, you know how I am about treatment, so I’ll do that around the clock and I think I should be fine by then.”
James’ left ankle buckled when his sneaker appeared to catch on the court when he and Markieff Morris converged on Clippers center Ivica Zubac to defend the big man in the paint.
Jame exited the game with 7:51 left in the fourth quarter and the Lakers trailing 99-92. The Clippers immediately went on a 6-0 spurt to push the lead to 13 with 6:40 left. James’ night was finished with 22 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 turnovers in 28 minutes.
When asked how he will seek treatment on the ankle, James, who turns 36 next week, sounded every bit like the 18-year veteran that he is.
“I’ll go home and have dinner right now,” James said. “I’ll ice it, and I’ll drink some wine that will flow right to the ankle. … I can make sure I can drink on the left side of my body so it just goes right down to my left leg, right down to my ankle. But I’ll be around the clock. I’ll wake up [Wednesday] morning before I leave the house, and also I’ll get some more treatment at the facility and just continue to do that.
“Like I said, we have a couple days, so I’ll be fine.”