The Los Angeles Lakers have been dealt with the injury bug to start the season although they are finally starting to get healthy.
The most significant injury has been heel bursitis for Jarred Vanderbilt, forcing him to miss the first 20 games of the season.
Vanderbilt was able to return and make his season debut on Saturday against the Houston Rockets, however. Even though he didn’t score and finished with four rebounds in 14 minutes, it was great to see Vanderbilt back healthy and he discussed how it felt to be back on the court.
“It felt good to be back out there with my teammates,” Vanderbilt said postgame. “Anytime you can get back on the court, it’s always a good feeling. So it felt good.”
It took a little longer for Vanderbilt to ramp-up than most expected and he explained what that process was like.
“Basically just trying to take care of the injury. And then building it back up efficiently and smart. I didn’t want to get back out there too fast so that was part of the ramp-up was just slowly going through progressions – 2 v. 2, 3 v. 3 and then some 5-on-5. So that was pretty much it.”
The most important thing is that regardless of how long it took, Vanderbilt is now back and healthy for the Lakers.
“I feel good. A little rusty, as expected. So just trying to get back in rhythm, get back in shape and continue to build chemistry on the court with my teammates.”
Vanderbilt’s defensive toughness and length is something that was greatly missed for then Lakers to begin the season. Length on the wing was expected to be one of the Lakers’ biggest strengths this season although injuries have not allowed that to come to fruition until now.
With Vanderbilt, Cam Reddish and Rui Hachimura all back from injury, the Lakers have the chance to be special defensively with all of their length and that was on display in the win over the Rockets.
Vanderbilt explains nature of heel injury
Vanderbilt played in the preseason opener for the Lakers but then was forced to miss around two months with left heel bursitis. He explained the nature of the injury and why it was so tricky to recover from.
“It was kind of just a nagging injury a little bit. Feel good some days, better than others. But I’m glad I got to take care of it.”
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