Before the Los Angeles Lakers went head-to-head against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, the team learned how long Nick Young would be out of the lineup with the injury he sustained the night before.
Fortunately, the diagnosis wasn’t as bad as anticipated. Many believed Young had suffered a severe Achilles injury. Even Young himself thought that was what happened, but it was calf strain instead.
As a result of the injury, Young will miss two to four weeks, and Luke Walton believes his effort defensively will be sorely missed, via Mark Medina of the OC Register:
“We put Nick on the other team’s best player a lot this year. He’s done a great job in making them work,” Walton said. “It’s not just the shooting we’ll miss. We’ll miss the defense, the energy he brings and the confidence he and his teammates get when he hits big shots.”
After facing an uncertain future following last season’s problems, Young has gotten his NBA career back on the right track while earning the respect of his new head coach in Los Angeles.
Young’s presence on and off the floor will definitely be missed by this Lakers squad. Although Young will be sidelined for as much as a month, the team has been as resilient as ever this season and clearly, has the ability to push through without the veteran guard.
After an impressive win on the road against the Bulls, the Lakers will try to make it two in a row going up against the Toronto Raptors on Friday at the Air Canada Centre.
