The Los Angeles Lakers had found their stride as of late. Anthony Davis embracing the center position and re-emerging as one of the NBA’s top players was at the forefront of why the team had gone 9-4 in his last 13 appearances, staying afloat in the Western Conference standings.
Davis was turning the corner in a major way for the Lakers. After fully embracing the center position, he boosted his averages to 27.4 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 2.1 blocks through 25 games this season. He re-emerged as one of the NBA’s top players, but that’s on hold for now.
The original reporting about Davis’ injury was that he was expected to be sidelined for about a month. However, there is an increased sense that he could miss multiple months, ranging from two-to-three. The exact severity of the injury has yet to be determined, to be clear.
“The first priority is to take care of his health,” Davis said. “The hell with what people have to say. Just block out that noise. We have a phenomenal medical staff. Really, really brilliant people within the organization who’s going to make sure he has the best medical care, and then once we find out what’s going on, we’ll act accordingly.”
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Anthony Davis & Los Angeles Lakers Updates
With the long-term in mind, the Lakers want to avoid rushing Davis back into the lineup before he’s ready. There will be outside noise about Davis’ injury history, but the focus remains on what’s best for him, not what people say.
“The first priority is to take care of his health,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “To hell with what people have to say. … We have a phenomenal medical staff of really, really brilliant people within the organization who make sure he has the best possible care, and once we find out what’s going on, we’ll act accordingly.
“The season is fairly early, and he just has to take care of his business starting with, first and foremost, getting back healthy.”
It remains to be seen how well the Lakers can manage to stay afloat while Davis is sidelined. LeBron James is in his 20th NBA season, and expecting him to shoulder that load with an untalented roster is asking for potential injury problems in itself. Russell Westbrook will be needed to continue to step up, but the rest of the roster outlook appears bleak.
“Whoever is available to play, we have to make plays,” James said. “We’re all NBA players, and we have to go out and trust the game plan the coaches put out there. Tonight, we were able to do that for the majority of the game.”
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Anthony Davis & Los Angeles Lakers Updates
The Lakers have hesitated to part with distant future draft capital to bolster the roster around Anthony Davis and LeBron James. With how the team is only 13-17 through 30 games, it doesn’t appear logical to be pushing chips into the center of the table to make such bold moves.
