Lakers big man Anthony Davis is averaging a league-leading 32.6 points per game on a career-high 57.1% field goal percentage through seven games, but he aggravated a left foot injury in the fourth quarter of Monday’s disappointing loss in Detroit, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
Sources tell McMenamin that Davis has not yet been ruled out for Wednesday’s game in Memphis, which is the last stop on the team’s five-game road trip. However, the Lakers figure to be cautious with the nine-time All-Star, who dealt with the foot issue from the end of last season through the Paris Olympics.
“I’ll talk to my trainer and just kind of figure out what exactly is going on,” Davis told reporters. “I’ve been managing it since this summer, honestly, and my goal for every game is to be on the floor. And I just kind of landed directly on the spot that’s been killing me. So, we’ll figure it out.”
The Lakers’ other star, LeBron James, declined to speculate on how the club might handle a situation in which Davis misses time, but he acknowledged it would be difficult to replace the league’s leading scorer in the lineup.
“I don’t play the ‘if’ game,” James said, per McMenamin. “We’ll go off what AD says and see how he feels over the next couple of days and go from there. But it don’t take a rocket scientist to know (the impact) if AD’s in or out. C’mon.”
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- If Davis does have to miss Wednesday’s game or any time beyond that, the Lakers will find themselves pretty shorthanded in the middle, notes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Jaxson Hayes remains available despite the NBA reopening its investigation into a 2021 domestic incident, but Christian Wood (knee surgery) and Christian Koloko (return-to-play conditioning) are out, as is small-ball center Jarred Vanderbilt (foot surgeries). When Hayes isn’t on the floor, L.A. might have to turn to rookie two-way big man Armel Traore or use a small lineup with James or Rui Hachimura at the five, according to Buha, who says neither option would be ideal.
- Veteran forward Cam Reddish played a season-high 14 minutes on Monday after appearing in just one of the Lakers’ first six games. He didn’t score, but he grabbed five rebounds and was a plus-10 in the 12-point loss to the Pistons, as Khobi Price of The Orange County Register writes. Head coach J.J. Redick said that Reddish “earned some trust” as a result of his showing on Monday. LeBron also lauded the former first-round pick for stepping in and acquitting himself well. “Cam was great,” James said. “He did exactly what was asked of him. He came in and he defended at a high level. He was great.”
- Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times takes a closer look at how veteran point guard D’Angelo Russell attempted to pull struggling teammate Max Christie out of his slump and increase his confidence ahead of Monday’s game in Toronto. Christie – who signed a four-year, $32MM contract over the summer – had his most effective outing of the season, with seven points and five rebounds in 13 minutes, but was unable to carry that momentum into Wednesday’s contest. He played just four first-quarter minutes against Detroit, with Reddish taking his spot in the rotation for the rest of the night.
Davis is made of glass…
Does that make Joel recycled glass?
Spun sugar.
JJ will burn the team out very Quickly. Not playing the bench players and hoping the older players will not get hurt will be his downfall. Playing the starters 40 minutes is asking for injuries.
Bench isn’t good enough to win ball games, its a nice sentiment but JJ is playing to win games and nobody is opposing the minutes
In a world where they had talent on the bench Id probably agree here but we are not in that world today with the Lakers
Yeah, I agree. The Lakers brass screwed the pooch by not at least expanding the bench last offseason. Kenecht is the only guy who is consistently good. Maybe Hayes if you squint. Vincent was never a good investment, Christie is inconsistent despite his talent, and Cam Reddish is even more inconsistent.
The Jeannie and Rob brain trust is more of a brain monopsony.
Yup its bad, real bad
Vincent has been horrific and somehow Max worse (unplayable) kudos to Jj sending Max pine last night early (4 mins) , he earned it
They are basically running Hayes who is like a (4/10) bu big (being polite) and a rookie out there to give the starters some wind
This ones on Rob for handing out player options like candy every offseason like he is still a player agent
I just don’t understand why their GM doesn’t bring in good young players. Their G league team seems to always find quality bench players but they don’t bring them up.
Blame Lakers GM he could have made trades but he over values his players by a lot. Thinking somebody is going to take D’lo bad deal and give him quality players. Rotation players will never get better sitting on the bench. They have an easy schedule and will only get harder. Use them now and worry about wins when they will need it