Against the Denver Nuggets, LeBron James made a play that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. Yet, it was important for the Lakers, and the 41-year-old put his body on the line. It even received appreciation from the head coach, but the 22x All-Star did not come out unscathed.

After a day’s rest, the Lakers faced the Rockets, and King James still wasn’t 100% fit. “I didn’t even show you the one on my hip, by the way. Yeah, I ain’t,” said Bron after the Lakers beat Houston 100-92. According to James, his injury was severe and gruesome to share, not just on social media but even in the locker room.

“I wasn’t going to post that. That’s too much. I was pretty banged up on the flight. Obviously, we had to get on the plane the next day, so I was pretty banged up on the flight coming here and pretty banged up, you know, last night. But got nine and a half hours of sleep last night and woke up, and I felt a lot better. I was able to get some rehab, treatment, and activation going today. So, it allowed me to play tonight, but it was definitely around the clock with it.”

On Saturday, in the final minute of the fourth quarter, the Lakers were trailing 112-111 when Nuggets forward Cameron Johnson missed a wide-open three-point attempt. LeBron James put his body on the line to grab the ensuing rebound, which rolled towards the middle of the floor. Bron went full-extension in diving for the loose ball, beating two Nuggets, and it was an energizing play to show how badly he wanted to win.

But paid the consequences. The Los Angeles Lakers star posted a photo on Instagram of a floor burn from when he dove for the ball in the overtime victory. Unfortunately, James gashed his leg on the play, causing a deep cut. He also jokingly announced his decision not to perform a similar dive this season. “Might be it for diving for the year! Ouch 😣!! LOL!” he captioned the post.

JJ Redick was surprised by LeBron James’ effort

Redick confirmed that James will transition into a lower-usage role to prioritize the playmaking of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Despite the change in role, the 22x All-Star’s commitment has not changed. Saturday against the Nuggets was a great example of that. In fact, the head coach gave a tongue-in-cheek compliment and said he had never seen James make a play like that in his 23-year career.

“After the game, I said, ‘In 23 years of watching you play in the NBA and the three years I watched him play in high school, I never saw him make a full-out extension dive like that.’ He said, ‘You’re right. I’ve never done that.’ It’s awesome. I know he’ll feel that tomorrow, but that’s a winning play.”

Even Redick was worried for a brief moment about his star’s health, but James powered through. Despite playing through pain, he started and had 33 minutes and ended the night on 18 points.