Report: LeBron dealing with most severe groin injury of his career

LeBron James remains day to day after suffering a groin injury on Christmas Day against the Golden State Warriors and most expect him to miss several games.

To make matters worse, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst that James has never had to deal with a groin injury this severe. They add the Los Angeles Lakers will exercise caution in returning the All-Star to action to avoid aggravating the injury further.

James was seen mouthing the words "I felt it pop" after hurting himself Tuesday. He was seen attempting to stretch his core before leaving the game and not returning. An MRI on Wednesday confirmed a strain.

Thursday's game against the Sacramento Kings will mark James' first DNP since April 12, 2017. He had played 156 straight contests, including playoff games.

James, who turns 34 on Dec. 30, has missed more than eight regular-season games in the same campaign just once over his 16-year career. He had an eight-game hiatus to deal with multiple nagging injuries in 2014-2015 as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers and missed 13 games in total that season.