SAN FRANCISCO (AP) 鈥� A scan done on LeBron James' troublesome left ankle and foot showed no serious issue, but the newly crowned NBA career scoring leader sat out a second straight game Saturday night since breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's mark earlier in the week.
Still, coach Darvin Ham expects to see James back on the floor before the All-Star break. When asked whether James might need to be sidelined through the break, Ham offered, "No, I don't think he'll allow us to do that."
General manager Rob Pelinka said earlier Saturday that nothing was seriously wrong for James, who topped former Lakers star Abdul-Jabbar during Tuesday's 133-130 home loss to Oklahoma City.
鈥淟eBron did have some imaging on his foot injury, and we鈥檙e grateful that things came back clean and good.鈥� Pelinka said.
The game with Golden State 鈥� missing reigning NBA Finals MVP Stephen Curry because of a left leg injury 鈥� marked James' seventh sidelined by soreness in the left ankle. He also missed one game with left foot soreness and another because of a non-COVID illness. He also sat out five games with a strained left inner thigh muscle.
鈥淛ust for him to continue to get treatment, stay off of it,鈥� Ham said of the plan. 鈥淥bviously we made moves and one of the biggest moves is making sure we鈥檙e not putting him in a position where we鈥檙e putting him at risk of a bigger issue.鈥�
James has what Ham called 鈥渘ormal wear and tear, little irritated in one area.鈥�
The 38-year-old James has made his 19th straight All-Star team and has 38,390 career points.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just taking this time that we have to get him treated and hopefully get him back so we can make a good run and he can be in the midst of it down the stretch,鈥� Ham said.
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AP Sports Writer Greg Beacham in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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Janie Mccauley, The Associated Press
