Lakers Rumors: LeBron James Could Be Out 2 Months If He Has Surgery on Foot Injury

Los Angels Lakers star forward LeBron James reportedly could require a significant recovery time if he undergoes offseason surgery on his foot.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, James is set to undergo further evaluations, but foot surgery, which would put him on the shelf for two months, is among the possible outcomes.

After the Lakers were swept out of the Western Conference Finals by the Denver Nuggets on May 22, ESPN's Dave McMenamin reported that the 38-year-old said he would consider undergoing surgery this offseason to address a foot injury that impacted him over the final three months of the 2022-23 campaign.

"I'm going to get an MRI on it and see how the tendon either healed or not healed and go from there," James said. "We'll see what happens."

In February, he suffered a torn tendon in his foot that cost him a month of action. He said his play was impacted upon his return, though he continued to play through the injury as the Lakers made their postseason run.

In addition to considering the offseason procedure, James said after the Lakers' season ended that he's "got a lot to think about" in regards to "going forward with the game of basketball," indicating that he was contemplating retirement.

In his 20th season, he was limited to 55 games and averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists. It was his third consecutive season playing less than 60 games. In the playoffs, he averaged 23.5 points, 9.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists.

It's clear that James is nearing the end of his legendary career, but when he's healthy he's still one of the best players in the NBA.