LeBron James. John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
The United States men’s basketball team moved one step closer to Olympic gold on Tuesday with a convincing 122-87 victory over Brazil in the quarterfinals.
However, it was a very painful win for one of Team USA’s best players.
LeBron James had to exit the game after taking an inadvertent elbow, resulting in a nasty cut above his eye that required four stitches. Head coach Steve Kerr shared the news after the game, according to Ben Golliver of The Washington Post.
USA Basketball coach Steve Kerr said LeBron James got four stitches after taking an inadvertent blow to the head during blowout win over Brazil
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) August 6, 2024
James ended up scoring 12 points in the win in just a little more than 16 minutes. He added three rebounds, three steals and nine assists.
Brazil typically plays a very physical brand of basketball, so it is not a huge surprise that there was some sort of injury in the game. The good news is that it should not keep James out of the lineup for Team USA’s semifinal game against Serbia later this week.
James left the game in the third quarter, but was back on the team’s bench for the fourth quarter. By that point, the game was well in hand for the Americans so there was no reason for him to go back in.
LeBron left the quarterfinals game vs. Brazil after an elbow to the eye. pic.twitter.com/xeSW3TGM6R
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 6, 2024
