Despite broken nose Miami forward LeBron James is expected to play Sunday against Chicago.
Despite broken nose, he likely won’t miss game
MIAMI — LeBron James considered having a little fun with his current injury.
He debated wearing some sort of mask to cover the broken nose he sustained Thursday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Maybe an Iron Man costume. Or Batman. Or V for Vendetta. Or the image he tweeted of him donning a Bane mask, thus spawning the name “LeBane.”
In the end, James will settle for the basic face guard he wore nine years earlier.
“I don’t think [ NBA commissioner] Adam Silver would even go for it,” James said, referring to possibly wearing a creative mask.
James did not practice Saturday, but is expected to play against the Chicago Bulls Sunday at AmericanAirlines Arena. He wore a protective bandage when speaking with reporters.
“It’s nothing that you want to make long term,” James said. “I’m still at awe with what Rip Hamilton was able to do for so long, wearing it. It’s very uncomfortable. We’ll see how it feels.”
It marks the second time James will have to play in a mask. He sustained a broken cheek bone after a collision with Houston Rockets center Dikeme Mutombo in 2005. James played the following game.
“Anybody who knows the history of the game, knows Dikembe’s elbows are not the nicest,” James said. “It happened a few hours before my 20th birthday, too. … That didn’t feel too pleasant either.”
The latest injury occurred in the fourth quarter against theT hunder. He was hit by forward Serge Ibaka while driving to the basket. A bleeding James was taken into the locker room. He did not return, finishing with 33 points.
James did not claim the play was dirty but was surprised no foul was called.
“No, I thought it was an accident,” James said. “I thought itwas a foul. I’ll tell you that. He got me twice. I’m just happy our training staff was able to stop the bleeding once I got in the locker room. The fact that I was on the road for so long and it happened on the last day before I came home was theworst thing.”
James has spent the past few days avoiding being the butt of jokes from teammates and family. Even his kids have joined in on the ribbing.
“It doesn’t matter,” center Chris Bosh said. “If you come to the gym, you’re fair game. There were a couple of big nose jokes in there. It’s good for camaraderie.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the training staff will evaluate James before Sunday’s tip- off. James has missed just one game this season.
“We’ve got to come in with a game plan and try to go out there,” guard Dwyane Wade said. “You can’t make up for a LeBron James but someone has to step up in a different way. If we have to go without him, we just have to make sure that we all step up a little bit more.”
The Heat feel they are better prepared for these situations because of Wade. He has missed 15 games, with 13 of them being for injury reasons.
“That’s the thing about this group,” Spoelstra said. “We have guys. … We don’t want to have guys miss games due to injury butwe do have guys who are ready.”
Playing without James would actually be easier than previous injury situations. At least they are able to prepare for the possibility. Bosh said the team is “mentally prepared” for it.
“We’ve been in the situation many times before,” Bosh said. “We still expect to win no matter who we put out there. Chicago is a very talented team. They’re coming here trying to get a win. We’ve found out guys weren’t playing right before the game.”