Through nine games of the 2019-20 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers have the best record in the league (7-2) now, but have still dealt with some injuries along the way.
While all of the attention is on Anthony Davis (shoulder), Rajon Rondo (calf) has not made his debut while Troy Daniels (knee) received an MRI after their recent game.
Although Davis clearly reaggravated his shoulder against the Toronto Raptors, he downplayed the severity of it.
“It has gotten much better,” Davis shared. “Just when you’re playing and you get hit or reaggravate it, you kinda take a couple of steps back. But nothing like it was the first time that it happened, so we’re moving in the right direction.”
As for Rondo, he has been considered day-to-day, but it appears his injury is more severe than originally reported.
“They kind of compared it to [Kevin Durant]’s calf strain,” Rondo revealed after practice. “Once they said that, I kind of backed up as far as wanting to play right away. I took a little more time off and tried to listen to my body day-to-day.”
While Rondo was expected to make his debut against the Raptors before needing more time, he shared the Achilles was initially the problem before it moved up to his calf.
“Achilles was the first initial problem and I rested for a while. Then it kind of moved to my calf and that’s when they told me about the KD calf strain, so kind of backed off.”
As Rondo is being patient with his injury, Daniels’ MRI on his knee returned negative. However, he is questionable against the Phoenix Suns, according to Mike Trudell of Lakers:
The MRI on the left knee of Troy Daniels was negative. He is questionable to play at Phoenix on Tuesday with the sore knee. Daniels hit 3 3’s off the bench in Sunday’s loss to Toronto.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) November 12, 2019
Although injuries have been a significant problem for the Lakers over the past 6-7 seasons, there is full confidence with director of sports performance Judy Seto now.
While Davis’ shoulder is something the Lakers need to keep an eye on, they have been relatively healthy so far. Los Angeles has shown they are a championship contender and health will be a factor in determining if they win it all.
Through an 82-game season, injuries will happen, but it is encouraging to see the players being more cautious in the short-term to avoid impacting their goals in the long-term.