LeBron James revealed that he had a torn tendon in his foot during the 2023 playoffs

LeBron James and the Lakers were swept by the Denver Nuggets this season in the Conference Final. The Lakers went all-in at the trade deadline to build up the roster for the postseason. It was clear in the 2023 playoffs that James was not his normal self. He recently revealed that he had a torn tendon in his foot during this postseason. 

James played with this foot injury for the entire postseason and part of the regular season as one. He’s one of the league’s all-time greats and did not want an injury to take away from his legacy. The 38-year-old played through the pain, but now he may require surgery on his foot.

He had the option at the time of the injury to get surgery then. Doctors told James that he would be out for the rest of the season if that happened. With the Lakers’ season over, James is seriously considering a potential surgery this offseason.

LeBron James played the last few months of the season with a torn tendon in his foot that could need surgery this summer, per @ShamsCharania

(Via @PatMcAfeeShow ) pic.twitter.com/frFArj1Dny

— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) May 25, 2023

LeBron James played through a torn tendon in his foot this postseason

The 19-time all-star said he plans to have an MRI done in the near future. He wants to see if the tendon has done healing in the meantime. It’s hard to think that any healing could have happened when the Lakers’ season just ended on Monday night. LeBron’s body heals faster than most, but his foot injury was somewhat serious and it held him back this postseason.

In the past, Lebron was scoring 28+ points per game in the playoffs and that was on the lower end. The 2023 playoffs were different for James. His offensive explosiveness was not there at times and his shooting touch from deep was awful. He’s a career (.333) percent shooter in the postseason. James shot (.264) in 16 games this postseason.

If James does need surgery on his foot, this would be the first major operation of his historic NBA career. Not only is LeBron known for his stats and highlights, but his longevity in the NBA is hard to match. Most players start to fizzle away once they hit their mid-to-late 30s. James is one of the rare players that continues to produce at an All-NBA level 20 years in. Staying relatively healthy has been a key to his career longevity. He’s likely hoping to avoid surgery this late in his career.