{"id":511686,"date":"2026-03-08T19:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T19:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/511686\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T19:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T19:37:08","slug":"lakers-downgrade-lebron-james-elbow-to-out-vs-knicks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/511686\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers downgrade LeBron James (elbow) to out vs. Knicks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dave McMenaminMar 8, 2026, 02:34 PM ET<\/p>\n

Close<\/a>Lakers and NBA reporter for ESPN.
\nCovered the Lakers and NBA for ESPNLosAngeles.com from 2009-14, the Cavaliers from 2014-18 for ESPN.com and the NBA for NBA.com from 2005-09.<\/p>\n

Multiple Authors<\/p>\n

LOS ANGELES — LeBron James<\/a> will miss his second straight game Sunday because of a left elbow contusion and left foot arthritis, the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> announced before their game against the New York Knicks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

James, 41, hurt his elbow late in the fourth quarter of L.A.’s 120-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets<\/a> on Thursday when falling to the floor after absorbing contact from Nikola Jokic<\/a> while scoring a layup.<\/p>\n

“It’s pretty sore right now,” James said after the game. “It felt like one of those funny bone situations, but like, super more intense.”<\/p>\n

This is the first time James has missed consecutive games all season since starting off the 2025-26 campaign on the injured list for the first 14 games because of sciatica affecting his lower back and down his right leg.<\/p>\n

The four-time MVP is averaging 21.4 points on 50.4%, 5.6 rebounds and 7.0 assists in his record-setting 23rd season.<\/p>\n

L.A. has gone 12-7 without him this season.<\/p>\n

Lakers coach JJ Redick told reporters before the Knicks game that Deandre Ayton<\/a> and Maxi Kleber<\/a> — who both missed Friday’s 128-117 win against the Indiana Pacers<\/a>, along with James — would be available Sunday.<\/p>\n

Rui Hachimura<\/a> started in place of James on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dave McMenaminMar 8, 2026, 02:34 PM ET CloseLakers and NBA reporter for ESPN. Covered the Lakers and NBA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-511686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=511686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}