Heart is not an issue as King James treated for chest pain
Tom Withers
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star forward LeBron James is expected to spend a second night in hospital after undergoing tests for chest pain which the team said was from a strained muscle.
On the advice of Cavaliers doctors, James was admitted to the Cleveland Clinic after pain on the left side of his chest worsened after practice. He underwent a series of tests, and general manager Danny Ferry said James was likely to be kept overnight.
Ferry said tests on James have not shown anything abnormal, and his understanding is that James' heart "is not an issue."
"They're going to test everything," Ferry said. "There are no red flags."
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James said he does not know how he got the injury, which team doctors initially diagnosed as a strained left pectoral muscle. The third-year pro said he woke up in pain Tuesday morning in Pittsburgh. He had scored 16 points the previous night in the Cavs' preseason opener against Washington.
The Cavaliers did not reveal James' hospital stay until Friday (HK time) when he missed practice.
The Cavaliers have a home preseason game Saturday (HK time) against Philadelphia, and travel to Milwaukee on Sunday.
James cannot say how he got hurt.
"I don't know where it came from," James said.
"I don't remember getting elbowed in the chest or pushed. It was something I never felt before."
With their regular-season opener several weeks away, the Cavaliers are not taking any chances with James, their franchise player.
"We just want to make sure our guys are healthy," Ferry said. "He's resting now, we told him to take it easy."
James has been remarkably durable during his first two seasons in the league.
As a rookie, he missed three games with a sprained right ankle. Last season, he missed only two games with a sprained left ankle.
James was expected to miss much more time after he had his left cheek bone broken by Houston center Dikembe Mutombo, who nailed James with an elbow December 29.
But James was fitted with a plastic protective mask and did not miss any games while wearing the mask for six weeks.
In his second season, he led the league in minutes per game (42.4) and minutes played (3,388) while becoming just the fifth player in league history to average 27 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for a season.
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