NBA Rumors: LeBron James to miss a few games; avoided major injury

NBA Rumors: LeBron James appears to have avoided a major injury, but will still miss a few games for the Los Angeles Lakers

LeBron James might’ve side-stepped a major injury, but it still appears he could miss a few games as he’s considered day-to-day after undergoing an MRI on his groin.

All things considered, that has to be a win for the Los Angeles Lakers. But LeBron sitting out a few games won’t be easy for the team, even if they did manage to pull away from the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day after he left in the third quarter.

If you’re looking for any silver lining, however, this could be a good opportunity for the rest of the Lakers to begin to build their confidence and play more assertively. If Los Angeles is going to accomplish their lofty goals this season, LeBron is going to need help from the others – perhaps much more than he’s gotten thus far this year.

Even though the team has gotten better with every passing week and month, when the playoffs come around they’re going to have to be better. Especially in a half-court setting. Sometimes playoff basketball isn’t pretty, and teams need more than one player to rely on.

Right now, I’m not sure if the Lakers would admit that they’re comfortable on relying on anyone on the team not named LeBron.

If LeBron in fact misses a few games over the next week or two, this could be a turning point in the season for some of this team’s young players. This moment in the year could end up being a blessing in disguise if the Lakers can take another step in their progression over the next couple of weeks.

Perhaps the fourth quarter in last night’s game, coupled with LeBron being forced out for a few games, is just what this team needs in order to develop into a real threat in the Western Conference.