We’ve got some positive injury news for the Lakers. Shams Charania of ESPN reports that LeBron James is back in Los Angeles rehabbing his groin strain while the team finishes its road trip with back-to-back games in Milwaukee and Denver.

LeBron initially hurt his groin late in the fourth quarter against the Celtics on Saturday. The team failed to complete its comeback in that contest and lost its other game against the Nets on Monday without James.

Hearing that LeBron is back in LA and fully focused on his rehab is great news. While having him with the team undoubtedly helps, given his leadership and basketball genius, he can best help the Lakers by returning as soon as possible.

With him back home and having all the time to focus on his rehab, hopefully, this means he will be back sooner rather than later.

Initial reports indicated that LeBron could take 1-2 weeks to recover from this groin strain injury. If he can return within a week, he can play for the Lakers during their upcoming five-game homestand.

This isn’t the first time LeBron has dealt with groin issues as a Laker. He suffered a groin injury back in 2022 and 2020 and missed 17 straight games due to this kind of injury back in 2018.

The 2018 injury was the worst one since the Lakers were the fourth seed when he got hurt and missed the playoffs partly because of LeBron’s injury.

When LeBron got hurt this time, he said it reminded him of his 2018 groin injury, but luckily, he indicated that this strain isn’t anywhere near as severe.

This is a step in the right direction for James, but caution is needed to ensure he is ready to return. At 40, LeBron is the oldest player in the NBA, and every injury he suffers must be taken seriously.

Hopefully, the Lakers can survive through this upcoming stretch of games without Lebron, and when he comes back, he’s 100% healthy and ready for the postseason push.