LeBron James was hampered in elimination game by MCL sprain: Report

Late in LeBron James and the LA Lakers' Game 5 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, LeBron James banged knees with Donte DiVincenzo. Immediately, James fell to the ground, grabbing at his leg. Moments later, he was seen going back to the locker room.

While he wound up returning to action, James reportedly suffered a sprained MCL in the collision, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, who broke the news to fans via X, formerly known as Twitter.

As McMenamin reported in a follow-up, had LA managed to get the win on Wednesday, the team would've wound up playing without James in Game 6.

James has played in a record 292 straight playoff games without missing a single one due to injury. While LA's season ended with their Game 5 loss on Wednesday, had there been a Game 6, James' streak would've come to an end.

The news, of course, could have major implications for the inevitable Hall of Famer's future as well. Following Game 5, the four-time champ played coy about the 2025-26 season, stating that he hadn't made a decision on whether or not he would opt in to the final year of his contract.

LeBron James isn't guaranteed to stay in LA if he does return for the 2025-26 season

After being eliminated from the playoffs, LeBron James played coy when asked about his future, saying that he hadn't made a decision, however, he was planning to talk to his family and his inner circle about the season ahead.

While Shams Charania expressed optimism about James opting in to the final year of his deal and returning to LA for another season, The Athletic reported on Friday that league sources, and team sources close to the four-time champ aren't ruling out the possibility that James opts out of his contract and signs elsewhere.

Interestingly enough, the sources cited in the report who indicated that they weren't ruling out James finishing his career elsewhere spoke prior to Game 5 of the Lakers-Timberwolves series, which saw LeBron James suffer an MCL sprain.

Of course, as fans may remember, there had been rumors that LeBron could potentially join Steph Curry in Golden State prior to the 2024-25 season. According to a report from The Stein Line, it was James' longtime friend and agent Rich Paul who shut the idea down.

At the time, Paul reportedly felt as though it wouldn't be good for James' image and legacy if he left LA to pursue a fifth ring elsewhere.

Whether or not his stance has changed, only time will tell.