The Lakers are preparing to be without Anthony Davis indefinitely, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links), who reports that the big man is expected to miss at least one month after suffering a right foot injury during Friday’s win over Denver.
There’s still no official word yet from the Lakers on Davis’ specific diagnosis or a possible recovery timetable. With both Charania and Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) reporting that Davis’ absence will be indefinite, the team may use similar phrasing when it makes its own announcement, declining to offer a set timeline for his potential return.
Davis’ injury occurred when he went up for a layup against Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and his lower leg collided with Jokic’s leg in midair. The Lakers star had already been ruled out for Sunday’s game due to right foot “soreness” and there was an expectation that he’d undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.
It’s a brutal turn of events for a Los Angeles team that appeared to be making some headway in the standings after a disastrous start. The Lakers had gone 10-6 since losing 10 of their first 12 games and seemed more inclined to pursue a trade to upgrade the rotation — it’s unclear how those plans may be affected by Davis’ absence.
It’s also an unfortunate development for Davis, who was enjoying perhaps the best stretch of his career before getting hurt on Friday. In his last 12 full games, he had averaged an eye-popping 35.0 points, 14.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.5 blocks, and 1.3 steals on 64.1% shooting.
This will be the third straight season that Davis has been seriously hampered by the injury bug. He appeared in only 36 regular season games of 72 in 2020/21 and just 40 of 82 last season. He had managed to stay relatively healthy this year up until now, having appeared in 25 of L.A.’s first 28 contests.
With Davis sidelined, backup center Thomas Bryant is expected to move into the Lakers’ starting lineup.
Forget “day to Da-vis.”
This is more like “weak to week-ish.”
I’m more useful to the lakers than he is… and I’m a chubby 5’9” 190. If dude can’t stay on the floor… WORST TRADE EVER!
What a stunner, Anthony Davis hurt? You almost never hear that. The more surprising headline would be, Anthony Davis plays!
Help the Lakers win their 17th championship.
ewww…your counting that “bubble championship “? gee..well, I uh….
20+ teams and their fans would love to have any championship, so go ewww somewhere else hater
naaaa…ill go ewwww right here, thank you! obviously you recognize the insignificance of that “tournament ” ……or you wouldn’t be so butt hurt. is what it is tho! participation trophies are nice too!
Didn’t most of the league compete in the bubble? Wasn’t the level of play much higher in the bubble for a variety of reasons? But it’s only a fake chip because Bron won right? Real basketball fans think you’re a clown buddy.
wash….how do you know what people think? you’re like……..amazing! its ok, bro…cherish the bubble ring! im not saying YOU can’t enjoy your little victory. have fun with it! lol!!!
I’m a kings guy dingus. The closest I’ve come to enjoying basketball in the last decade is lighting that stupid beam and acting like it’s an accomplishment (let me have that damn it). Fact is, if any team other than the Lakers had won that championship it would be viewed as a test of strength and a feat of courage to play in the bubble in the midst of a global pandemic we knew vastly less about then, than we do now. You can be part of revisionist history all you want. Bubble ball was some of the best we’ve seen from this era of players and that chip is as valid as any other. Cry about it
Kings are an up and coming young team. hopefully your time is coming soon. as a Dubs fan…..since ’76, I sympathize with your plight. I prayed that I’d get to see just ONE championship in my lifetime. decades of being a laughing stock. good luck with Sac town….(unless we’re playing them)
never understood Lakers coaches they never rest their players which means they get hurt. AD needs to play less minutes so less time to get injured.
The injury was ‘nothing’ watched live. He didn’t land on anyone/anything. Just landed from a contest and grimaced.
I think his rapid growth has left him with weaknesses in his joints and back… He went from 6’1″ to 6’11” in a year or something…
Just watching the minutes Ham plays some of his players is the reason they are getting hurt. The OT game the other night he played AD over 30 minutes without a rest and you could tell he was out of gas in OT. We will see LeBron going down sometime the season for a long time if ham doesn’t stop pushing Lebron 35 + minutes a game.
It’s a double-edged sword for Ham though because he either has to overuse Lebron and Davis to try and win, or rest them and most likely lose. The roster construction is flawed and that’s on Pelinka
I could never understand why they traded for Westbrook, a ball dominant player, after winning the championship. If Pelinka, Lebron and AD thought this was a good move they were sadly mistaken.
Todays players can’t play more than 35 minutes, back-to-back games, etc.
Never saw MJ complain. Perhaps if AD kept in better shape random little aches and pains wouldn’t be an issue.
So we’re using the greatest player ever as the standard?!
It’s amusing to me that people have this idea that just because they did it in the 80s and 90s, that’s the way to go. Rosters weren’t as big then. Plus with more rest, you get better efficiency and more energy out of players. It’s about more than just “aches and pains.”
They get paid to play, not rest. Perhaps he should invest in himself and work out – which probably would increase his “efficiency.” His talent has no ceiling, yet he succumbs to injury often.
just like when that drunken patron threw a beer bottle at the Jeff Healy band in road house said: “your paid to play, so PLAY!
He had a fence in front of him… :)
There is a lot more of back to back games now then ever before. Whoever makes up the schedule does just a poor job.
beck out this article from this site, posted on Nov 27th: link to hoopsrumors.com
One of the points made was this: “The schedule back then was more difficult than it is now. There were more back-to-backs and occasions when teams played four games in five nights. Yet players across the league regularly answered the bell and suited up.”
*Check. Dunno where “beck” came from.
If you look at some of the old schedules the back to back games were against the same team many times. Also they did proper schedule if you went to the opposite coast you played those team not zig zagging around the country on some trips.
There are far fewer back to back games than in the past. The pandemic shifted that paradigm (double P’s!) but pre-pandemic and again now the number of back to back games has decreased significantly.
They did get that one ring though. Not that I consider the bubble ring 100% legit. But technically it’s as valid as any other championship, despite what I think.
So is it really a bad trade if they got another banner for the rafters?
The problem was the Westbrook deal. LeBron could have carried that squad while Davis is in street clothes. As long as he’s right come playoffs. But they are so bereft of talent and depth now, because of that stupid trade everyone besides LeBron knew was a mistake.
It’s Anthony Davis he’s gotten injured in the offseason. Rest is useless.
thats crazy. i didnt see anything that suggested it would be a month long injury
I think the plan for some of these guys, Steph Curry included at 34 years of age, is to give these guys a month off mid-season so they’ll be fresh for the play-in games.
Did Curry or Davis get hurt on purpose or fake an injury or something else? Of course not but do teams mind that their guy is out for a month? I don’t think so. I think it’s a blessing in disguise especially for someone over 30.
Both teams are out of the playoffs (even the play in) as of today. If some teams that were not supposed to be good (Jazz, Blazers…) keep pushing, the last few games of the season could dramatic for teams like Warriors, Lakers and even Mavs and Clippers
Going to be tight at the end of the year. That’s for sure. Someone’s going to be disappointed out west.
Good for the NBA given that the regular season is sometimes considered boring and more about seeding. Nice to see a changing of the guard in some sense.
I’d argue that if you’ve been following his career, you’ve seen everything to suggest he was going to be missing significant time. His nickname isn’t street clothes for no reason.
In other news water is wet.
Street clothes gon street clothes
Davis – so good and so fragile
Wow Anthony Davis getting hurt? Im so shocked Wow. This comes as a surprise to anyone thats watched basketball for a long time
An earthling month to be fair is only a week to
AD and his planets people
No. AD is Adrian Dantley. You’re referring to THE NOODLE when you speak of Davis.
I’m 5’ 9” 160lb and work an office job. I feel confident saying I’d take my genetic makeup over AD’s any day. Dude is glass.
How much money has your office job made you?
Enough to be comfortable happy and feed my family. Also enough to buy a little razor for my unibrow.
Other than the unibrow I’d take Davis’ genetics any day.
slowcurve: this is a bad take
I’m sure your body would easily hold up to the rigors of professional athletics.
I’d bet $5,000 that I’d hold up better than AD. But who wouldn’t?
I played baseball and raced BMX competitively for most my life. I think I could manage to not fall apart every other month.
Sad… but predictable.
Poor LBJ… boohoo.
Hey Bulls have a center they are not using. We will throw in Lonzo Ball for AD and one of those first round picks.
Then AD can take the rest of the season to heal in his home town while we get in the Wembanyama sweeps.
Davis plays soft. That’s why he gets hurt. Simple as that. Another yr in the NBA. And you know who’s going to get hurt and not play.
Thank you for this expert take. Very astute.
To the point …..
You’d have to play to know. ……
Paper Sack Davis…
Set your clocks
That sucks for AD & all the hoops fans… as he was having an MVP season!
Get back soon!
Most fans expected this to happen, it was only a matter of time. Stinks for AD and the Lakers though.
And so Again ……
“ The Bron window is SHUT “.
James should only stat pad and only focus on breaking Jabbar’s most points record. Lakers were already struggling with a healthy Davis. A month long absence seems worse.
Sign Howard or Whiteside
things that are always constant in life.. Death, taxes, and Anthony Davis in street clothes on the bench