LeBron James Says Shin Injury Suffered in Lakers' Win vs. Suns Is 'Pretty Sore'

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James came out of Friday's 122-119 victory over the Phoenix Suns in some pain.

James told reporters after the game his shin his "pretty sore" after taking an inadvertent hit from Kevin Durant in the first quarter.

The Lakers forward was driving to the basket when Durant's knee hit his lower leg. He went to the bench for treatment and was seen stretching his leg at times during the game.

You would never know anything was wrong based on James' stat line with 38 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in 36 minutes. The Lakers snapped a three-game losing streak and earned their first road win of the season.

Durability was something of a question mark coming into the season for James considering the 2023-24 campaign is the 21st of his career. There are plenty of miles on his legs, and he hasn't played more than 67 games since the 2017-18 season.

While James might be past his peak, he is still among the best players in the league and was largely excellent for the Lakers last season. He averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game in 2022-23.

The King has followed with 25.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists so far in 2023-24.

Head coach Darvin Ham previously spoke about wanting to keep James on a bit of a minutes restriction just to avoid wearing him down over the course of a long season. He's currently averaging 35.0 minutes in nine games.

The Lakers are off Saturday before hosting the Portland Trail Blazers at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday. If James' shin is still bothering him, it wouldn't be a surprise if they try to give him a day off to avoid risking further injury issues.