Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James announced that he will not be attending this year’s Met Gala in New York after sustaining an injury in their playoff series loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round.
“Unfortunately, because of my knee injury I sustained at the end of the season, I won’t be able to attend the Met Gala in NY tonight, as so many people have been asking and congratulating me on! Hate to miss a historical event! My beautiful, powerful Queen will be there holding the castle down as she always has done! 🙏🏾🫡🤎✨✨✨ ,” James posted on X on Monday, his first social media post since the Lakers were eliminated from the NBA playoffs.
James is serving as an honorary co-chair of the glitzy fund-raising event that would have marked his first appearance. On his behalf, his wife, Savannah James, will represent the Lakers star in the charity gala.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported that James sustained an MCL in Game 5, which entails a three-to-five-week recommended recovery timeline.
James sustained the injury in a collision with Minnesota guard Donte DiVincenzo with 8:39 remaining in the game. After briefly leaving the game to have his knee checked, James returned with 7:23 left. But ultimately, the Lakers bowed out with a 103-96 loss.
The 40-year-old James finished with 22 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals in 40 minutes.
LeBron Expected to Return
The injury will give James some downtime to decompress after finishing his 22nd NBA season while pondering on his future.
“I don’t have an answer to that,” James told reporters after their Lakers’ elimination. “Something I’ll sit down with my family, my wife and my support group and kind of just talk through it and see what happens. And just have a conversation with myself on how long I want to continue to play.”
Though James was non-committal on returning for his 23rd season following their first-round exit, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Lakers star is expected to play at least one more year.
“There’s no expectation for LeBron James to retire,” Charania said on “The Pat McAfee Show” on May 1. “I will say that my sense, my understanding, is he will play at least another NBA season. You think about next year, 2025-26 [season], it’ll be year 23 that will set a league record. Year 23 for No. 23. The NBA All-Star is in Los Angeles. He’s potentially playing in Los Angeles. “There are a lot of stars that would align for next season, potentially, if that’s what LeBron James decides.”
James has a $52.7 million player option for next season, which he has to decide on by June 29.
No Paycut This Time
Unlike last offseason when James took a paycut to help the Lakers get under the first apron, James is taking no discount this time, Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic reported in the aftermath of the Lakers’ elimination from the postseason.
James agreed to cut about $2.7 million from his salary for this season to help the Lakers gain flexibility to build out a roster around him and Anthony Davis back then. He even considered taking a more significant paycut had they landed a significant talent in the offseason. His reported list includes James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Klay Thompson and Jonas Valančiūnas. But the Lakers did not get any of them.
Instead, the Lakers pivoted midseason from Davis to acquire Luka Dončić in a shocking trade that ushers in a new era in Los Angeles.
If James picks up his player option, the Lakers will be operating as a first apron team and will only have the taxpayer’s $5.7 midlevel exception to use to lure a free agent. The Lakers will likely go the trade route to get a significant addition this time around.
