LeBron James revealed the full extent of the injury that kept him out of the Los Angeles Lakers' previous 13 games before Sunday's return, but said he may still require surgery.
James returned off the bench with 19 points, making six-of-11 shots from the field with eight rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes as the Lakers lost 118-108 to the Chicago Bulls on Sunday.
The four-time NBA MVP revealed after the game that he had actually torn a tendon in his foot against the Dallas Mavericks on February 26, which typically keeps players out for longer than the four weeks' recovery time he needed.
The 38-year-old said he was told by two doctors that he required surgery but opted against it, albeit conceding he may still require an operation on the injury in the offseason.
When asked why James opted against surgery, he replied: "Because I went to the LeBron James of feet and he told me I shouldn't."
James added: "Right now I don’t need it [surgery]. We'll wait and see. I'll probably get another MRI at the end of the season and go from there.
"If I end up having to get surgery after the season... by the time next season starts I'll be fine, I'll be ready to go."
The Lakers provided few updates during his recovery, with his return coming with minimal advance warning.
James added that doctors told him he was "healing faster than anybody they've seen before with the injury", leading to his early comeback, although he said he would remain "day to day" in the short term depending on his recovery.
"I felt confident in the workouts that I had this week," James said. "The day after the workouts, when I woke up, stepped out down off the bed, I could possibly play today. After my workout early before the game today, I knew I could play."
On his performance, James added: "I felt okay. Obviously the rhythm is the most important.
"I had a couple of drives and the ball got away from me and a couple shots didn’t feel as good as before, but I was out for four weeks obviously so between that and the wind I've just got to get those things back leading into the final stretch of the season."
James' return for the Lakers came with seven regular season games left, with the side having gone 8-5 in his absence to boost their playoff hopes.
"Now we're sitting with a chance to be a top-eight seed that definitely changed my mindset coming back and trying to be part of this obviously," James said. "I won't say changed, but enhanced it, in terms of my workouts and treatment. They played such great basketball."
James is averaging 29.3 points on 50 per cent shooting with 8.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists from 48 games this season.
The Lakers dropped below .500 with the defeat, sitting ninth in the West with a 37-38 record.
New Phoenix boss Budenholzer would coach Suns 'if it was on the moon'
Mike Budenholzer admitted he would coach the Phoenix Suns, even if the team "was on the moon".
The two-time NBA Coach of the Year, who guided the Milwaukee Bucks to the title in 2021, was named Frank Vogel's successor at Footprint Center last week.
Arizona-born Budenholzer returns to his hometown after taking the 2023-24 season out, having previously enjoyed five-year stints with the Bucks and Atlanta Hawks.
The 54-year-old has only missed out on the postseason once in his 10 previous NBA campaign, guiding his teams to six division titles and entering the playoffs as top seeds on four occasions.
Budenholzer now hopes to achieve something similar with the Suns, who endured a disappointing season under Vogel, which culminated in a 4-0 first-round series defeat by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
"It's mind-boggling to me, like mind-blowing, to think that I'm going to be the head coach of the Phoenix Suns," he told reporters during his introductory news conference.
"I'm excited about working with this roster and these players. We have great players and, with great players, comes great expectations. I think we embrace that.
"The biggest message I want you to hear is that I would coach this team if it was on the moon. I would coach this team if it was in Alaska, if these players were in Denmark. I would go anywhere to coach this team."
'We played harder' – Carlisle proud of Pacers' efforts after Indiana force Game 7
Rick Carlisle hailed the efforts of his Indiana Pacers players after they forced their playoff series with the New York Knicks to Game 7.
Carlisle challenged his players directly in the wake of their loss in Game 5, which put them 3-2 down in the series.
And the Pacers responded with a fine display in a 116-103 victory, which sees the series go down to the wire, with Game 7 set for Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
"It was just activity. We played harder tonight, which was a must," Carlisle said.
"We moved the ball better and we got more rebounds, and that's obviously a big key to the series.
"We gotta brace for Sunday. And we must be ready."
Tyrese Haliburton had 15 points and nine assists for the Pacers, and said: "Coaches challenged our effort, I think that was the biggest thing.
"We had some boneheaded things happen [in Game 5].
"He [Carlisle] just really challenged our group [players] 1-15 on how can we be better."
Jalen Brunson finished with 31 points for the Knicks, but he was not overly impressed by his own performance.
"They try to make things difficult," Brunson said. "And I have to adjust as well. Show me different looks and I have to do a better job of reading it."
NBA: Siakam leads Pacers past Knicks to force Game 7 in East semifinals
Pascal Siakam scored 25 points and Myles Turner added 17 as the Indiana Pacers rolled to a 116-103 victory over the New York Knicks to force Game 7 in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Friday.
Andrew Nembhard, Tyrese Haliburton and T.J. McConnell each added 15 points, with Nembhard grabbing six rebounds and handing out six assists. Haliburton had nine assists as the Pacers remained perfect in six home games in this postseason.
The winner of Game 7 in New York on Sunday will advance to face the top-seeded Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.
Jalen Bruson scored 31 points on 11-of-26 shooting after missing his final 11 shots in the first half. Deuce McBride added 20 points with four 3-pointers as the Knicks fell to 0-3 on the road in this series.
Already decimated by injuries, the Knicks lost starting forward Josh Hart in the fourth quarter due to abdominal soreness.
Hart was seen holding his midsection multiple times during the game and asked to be taken out after he had five points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes.
New York is already without All-Star Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic.
Indiana used a 14-6 run in the third quarter to take control, turning a 61-56 lead into a 75-62 advantage. The Pacers maintained at least a 10-point edge the rest of the way.
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