Obviously the big question surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers is when big man Anthony Davis will be able to return to the court. Davis had been dominant this season, but once again injury issues have stopped his momentum and severely hampered the Lakers’ ability to pick up wins on the court.
Though it took some time to figure out exactly what the issue was, it was ultimately revealed that Davis suffered a stress injury in his foot and now the Lakers big man is doing everything he can to return to the court as soon as possible.
Davis recently spoke about when that might be and while he didn’t want to put any timetable on it, he does believe that the healing process is going well. Davis also revealed that more imaging will be done when the team returns to L.A. from its road trip after which he hopes to begin ramping up his on-court training, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I think the next step is healing right now. I don’t want to use timetables because then if you don’t meet that timetable, it’s a whole different thing. But it’s healing pretty quickly. So when we get back to L.A. we’ll take another image of the foot and then see how far it has healed since the last time I did it which was the 22nd I think… We’re at the two-week period going into week three and it’s really just about pain. The pain is still there, I still feel it a little bit, not as much as I did before, more like a two trending down to a one [on the pain scale]. I’ve been lifting and lifting is fine, everything I do in the weight room is fine. Then if I see that it has healed properly and enough that I can start ramping up on the court then we’ll start that process.”
Obviously the Lakers and Davis will be very careful with this process as foot issues, especially with big men, are very dangerous. The team will be extremely cautious and not rush Davis back, but when he does get back on the court, he expects to pick up right where he left off:
“I’m just really excited to get back on the floor whenever that date is. To pick up where I left off – that’s my mindset. There hasn’t been a ‘man, it’s gonna take me x-amount of games to get back in a rhythm’ or ‘I might not be the same.’ That’s not even been a thought in my mind. My thought has been that whenever that day is, it’s go time.”
The Lakers will need Davis at that level if they expect to make a run into the playoffs this season. Regardless of what the front office does in terms of trades in the next couple of months, this team will go as far as Anthony Davis carries them.
LeBron James has been excellent this season, but Davis showed he can still be one of the best players in the NBA when he’s at his best and he has designs on being right back to that spot when he suits up once again.
Lakers’ Anthony Davis expected to be out until at least mid-January
The timeline for Davis’ return remains unknown, but he almost definitely is still some weeks away from getting back on the court in the best case scenario.
Recent reports suggest that Davis will be out until at least mid-January with that stress injury in his foot and even though he plans on being right back to the same level he was at prior to the injury, it remains to be seen whether that will be the reality.
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