LeBron James wore a black hand wrap to his post-game press conference after Game 4, just minutes after news broke that James severely injured his hand while punching a white board after Game 1. James admitted to “essentially playing with a broken hand” for the rest of the series. James said his emotions boiled over after missed calls and the way the team ended the game. “What happened? Self inflicted, post-game after Game 1,” James told ESPN after the game. “Very emotional for a lot of different reasons. Understanding how important that Game 1 was on the road for our ball club. What that would have done for us. The way we played. The calls that was made throughout the course of that game. I had emotions on the game was taken away from us. I had emotions on you just don’t get an opportunity like this on the road versus Golden State to be able to get a Game 1. I let the emotions get the best of me, and pretty much played the last three games with a broken hand. That’s what it is.” Here’s how Sports Illustrated described the injury. James reportedly was in a soft cast and underwent two MRIs on his hand. Windhorst said that James had not been practicing. During press conferences, James hid the injury from the media by tucking his arm in. Windhorst added that the swelling on James’ hand was “so bad after Game 1 that the imaging that they took couldn’t even determine if it was a break.” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported he kept the injury quiet to prevent the Warriors from taking advantage of it during the series. “LeBron James suffered a significant right hand injury after Game 1 when he punched a black board in the locker room, sources told me & @mcten. He had 2 MRIs & has been wearing a soft cast. LeBron not using injury as an excuse but kept quiet to prevent Warriors from knowing,” Windhorst tweeted. Here’s a look at a close-up of James’ right hand during Game 4 courtesy of Getty. The discoloration could be from treatment he received throughout the series. James declined to elaborate on his future plans, only to say that his kids are much older now than the last time he made his free agency decision. James said that will impact his decision. In addition to the hand injury, James was dealing with an eye injury he sustained during Game 1 in a collision with Draymond Green. James spoke about the eye injury after Game 2. “I’ll be in uniform, and I’ll continue to try to make plays and help our team be successful and try to get one up on the board,” James told the New York Post. “Yeah, she didn’t like the FaceTime that we had earlier. She was a little weirded out about it. But I’ll be fine. So everything’s good. Appreciate it.” Here’s some additional photos of James hand. LeBron James's broken hand. pic.twitter.com/TBsoSjdeq8 — Cavs Sports Talk ? (@CavsSportsTalk) June 9, 2018 LeBron wearing a brace on his injured right hand pic.twitter.com/ItQgberC9D — Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) June 9, 2018<doc-sep>Ezra Shaw/Getty Images The Cleveland Cavaliers' heartbreaking loss in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals not only dug them an early hole in the series, but it also led to their best player suffering an injury that would affect him the rest of the way. After the Golden State Warriors finished off a sweep of the Cavs on Friday night, Sam Amick of USA Today reported that LeBron James played the final three games of the series with a "serious bone contusion in his right hand." That injury was suffered when the three-time champion punched a whiteboard after Game 1, per Amick. James revealed the extent of the injury after Game 4, via NBA TV: It's hard for anyone to blame James for being frustrated by the way Game 1 ended. He did everything he could to lead his team to a victory, posting 51 points, eight assists and eight rebounds. However, that was not enough to beat the Warriors. The Cavs were in position to steal the opening game on the road, though. 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It was clear during the postgame press conference that James was frustrated (with the blunder as well as the officiating), as he walked out on the media: As it turns out, his frustration boiled over for more than just a presser walkout. For anyone watching the Finals, there were no obvious signs of injury. While playing hurt, James still averaged 28.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 10.7 assists over the final three games.<doc-sep>LeBron James played the last three games of the NBA Finals with a severe right hand injury. James reportedly sustained the injury when he punched a blackboard following the Cavs Game 1 meltdown. James hid the injury from plain sight and was wearing a cast when he was out of the public eye. LeBron James played through the NBA Finals with a serious right hand injury that he sustained after Game 1, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst. Windhorst reported on ESPN that after the Cavs' brutal Game 1 meltdown, James punched a blackboard out of frustration. According to Windhorst, James received two MRIs for the injury and wore a soft cast when he was out of view of the media and anyone else. During his postgame press conference on Friday following the Golden State Warriors' sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers, James admitted to the injury and donned his cast. After Game 4, James said the injury was "self-inflicted" and occurred because he was emotional after the Cavs lost the close game. "I pretty much played the last two games with a broken hand. That's what it is," James said. ESPN James is, of course, right-handed. After dropping a monstrous 51 points in Game 1 of the Finals, James' approach did appear different in Games 2, 3, and 4. James still shot 49% from the field over the last three games, but just 27% on three-point attempts with fewer than four attempts per game. For the entire postseason, James shot 34% on over five attempts per game. In Game 3, he also notably missed a few open layups. Windhorst said that James did not want the information getting out for fear of the Warriors targeting him on defense or guarding him differently. The health of James' hand likely would not have had much affect on the outcome of the series, a four-game sweep by the Warriors. But it's worth wondering how limited James was, and how much fight it took out of him, particularly after he nearly willed the Cavs to an improbable Game 1 win. James also played through several other injuries. His left eye remained bloodshot after getting poked in the eye in Game 1. In Game 3, he re-aggravated an ankle injury he sustained during the Eastern Conference Finals. Watch Windhorst's report below:<doc-sep>
LeBron James just finished a pretty incredible NBA Finals. He averaged 34 points, 10 assists and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 52 percent for the entire series. Despite this, the Cleveland Cavaliers did not steal a single game from the Warriors -- on Friday, they were swept out of the playoffs. There was one game, however, that James and the Cavs almost stole. They led late in Game 1 and had a chance to win in regulation. George Hill missed a free throw, only for J.R. Smith to get the rebound and commit the blunder of his life, dribbling out the clock and forcing overtime. James was beside himself and the Cavs wound up with a heartbreaking 124-114 loss. Aside from being the one that got away, though, this felt like the end of the incident. At the end of the series and the season, we learned that Game 1 had a profound effect on the games that followed. According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN and Sam Amick of USA Today, James has been playing with a bone contusion in his right hand since the Finals opener. The reason for that injury? He punched a blackboard in frustration. In James' postgame press conference he commented on the hand injury. He said it was self-inflicted, but did not confirm that he punched a board. "What happened? Self-inflicted, post-game after Game 1. Very emotional, for a lot of different reasons. Understanding how important Game 1 is on the road for our ballclub, what would that have done for us. The way we played, the calls that was made throughout the course of that game, I had emotions on the game was taken away from us. I had emotions of you just don't get opportunities like this on the road, versus Golden State, to be able to get a Game 1. And I let the emotions get the best of me. I pretty much played the last three games with a broken hand, so that's what it is." This is insane. Everybody knows of James' competitiveness, but to be so frustrated with a loss that he would punch a board? Then injure his hand over it? It's amazing that he was able to play with the injury at all, but it's crazy to think that someone usually so composed would risk injury like that.