LeBron James exited All-Star Game with right-hand contusion; Antetokounmpo only played under a minute

Superstar LeBron James had to leave the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night after the league confirmed he had suffered a hand injury before the halftime whistle. 

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary when Toronto’s Pascal Siakam, who played for the team led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, jumped towards the rim in what appeared to be an uncontested dunk. Suddenly the Lakers player tried to sneak up behind him to block the shot against the backboard, but instead of touching the ball his finges collided against the metal.

As he did, LeBron’s hand got caught in the rim as he hurt his wrist and suffered a right-hand contusion. You could see his pain immediately, even though the King decided to keep playing until he officially was ruled out at halftime.

Watch the play for yourself as Raptors’ Siakam was still able to score the layout:

Here's the play where LeBron James hurt his wrist as he was trying to block this Pascal Siakam shot 🙏 pic.twitter.com/NyoCIuIWh7

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 20, 2023

The truth is, the All-Star Game is always a great exhibition for fans to watch the best of the NBA players compete together on the court, as watching rival athletes play in the same team is like a dream come true to many basketball followers. However, there is always the chance that a player could get injured and consequently miss out on the tournament’s official matches.

James finished the All-Star match with only 13 points, four assists and one rebound, after he was honored at halftime as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, and then finally never made his way back to court.

As for Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee star had also been struggling with a wrist injury. As the player did put on his All-Star jersey to play, he was only on court for under a minute as he scored an easy dunk, but immediately checked himself only to realize he really wasn’t fit enough to participate.

Just as LeBron did, Antetokounmpo had to think about what’s most important, which is returning healthy for their respective teams after the All-Star Break. As we don’t know if it was just a precautionary measure by James, it is a fact that the Lakers must be worried considering he was also carrying a recurrent foot issue.

The Lakers are set to resume their regular season schedule against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena.

Team Giannis beat LeBron’s squad by nine points

In a very amusing clash, Team Giannis finally conquered the All-Star Game after the score was 184 to 175 as the final buzzer went off.

Even though the cameras were all over the 38-year-old legend, it was Boston’s Jayson Tatum who stole the show. Not only was he the best player on court, his 55-point performance set a new All-Star record for the highest amount of points from a single player in this infamous showcase.

Check out the highlights of Sunday’s contest at the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City:

The Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell also had a game worth mentioning, as the shooting guard was the best offensive player for LeBron’s squad, dropping a total of 40 points, but also adding 4 rebounds and handing out 10 assists throughout the match.