For the Los Angeles Lakers, and basically all teams this season, the most important thing is health and being at full strength for the playoffs. While the Lakers have had their struggles, LeBron James and Anthony Davis give them a shot against any opponent.
Of course, Davis’ health is of concern at present time. After dealing with Achilles tendonosis that forced him to miss a couple of games, Davis re-aggravated the injury against the Denver Nuggets while also suffering a calf strain.
The team said that Davis would be out at least 2-3 weeks before being re-evaluated and the overriding belief was that the big man would be out until at least the All-Star break.
The Lakers have already changed that stance in some regard after Davis was looked at by team doctors. “He was evaluated tonight, actually, and it just confirmed the calf strain,” Vogel said after the Lakers’ loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
“He’s going to be out for four weeks. We want to try to put this fully behind him and be conservative with it just to make sure it’s fully healed before he’s back.”
Conservative is the key word used by Vogel and it is one that has been said continually in regards to Davis’ health. An injury of this type is one that can potentially linger or get worse, and the Lakers are not going to take that chance, especially when it comes to Davis.
The most important thing is to ensure Davis is 100% healthy before he returns rather than risk something worse like a tear or rupture.
Shortly after Vogel provided an update, the Lakers clarified four weeks is an estimate for Davis’ return. It not only includes Davis’ rehab and recovery, but also the time it would take for him return to practice and ramp up his workout efforts to get back to game speed.
This timeframe would see a Davis return to the court by the end of March, which would give him plenty of time to back to peak form and ready to help the Lakers defend their championship.
Davis plans to be ‘smarter’ with rehab
This all falls in line with what Davis has said as well. While the Lakers superstar doesn’t believe he or the organization handled things wrong the first time, he still plans on being more cautious this time around.
“Obviously be a little smarter with it — which I think I was smart the first time — but even smarter,” Davis said. “Up the treatment more; instead of three times a day, maybe five times a day. Just try to get it back where it needs to be so I can go out there and help the team.”
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