The Los Angeles Lakers will have to adjust without Anthony Davis after it was reported that he would miss about a month of time with a foot injury that he suffered in last Friday night’s win over the Denver Nuggets.
Davis had been enjoying a resurgent year, so one can only imagine how frustrated he must feel having to sit out for an extended period of time again.
In the wake of the injury, head coach Darvin Ham made sure to emphasize that the team’s priority is Davis’ health and will be monitoring the situation carefully.
“Well, you know the first priority is to take care of his health,” Ham said before last Sunday’s game against the Washington Wizards. “The hell with what people have to say, just block out that noise. We have a phenomenal medical staff, really brilliant people within the organization so he has the best possible care. Once we find out what’s going on, we’ll act accordingly. Just for him specifically though, just focus on your health and whatever the issue is, once it gets alleviated, just start the process to getting back on the floor. It’s as simple as that.
“Injuries are a big part of our league and a part of sports in general. Unfortunately he’s had the injury history that he’s had, but there’s no time to cry over spilled milk. The season is fairly early and he just had to take care of his business starting with first and foremost, getting back healthy.”
The peculiar part of the situation though is that the Lakers have not announced the exact nature of the injury and a potential timeline for his return. Days have passed since the injury with nothing but silence, and ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported the reason for that on Wednesday afternoon:
“This is Day 5 since Anthony suffered that right foot injury against the Denver Nuggets. He’s on the trip with the Lakers but he did not come to shootaround, he stayed back at the hotel and is getting treatment on the foot. Now, the interesting thing is when we see him around, he’s not wearing a boot on the foot currently and so right now I’m told that the team is continuing to seek second opinions, third opinions in order to figure out a course of action to get his foot right or in a place where he can contribute to the team.”
Davis has been ruled out for Wednesday night’s game against the Sacramento Kings, which will make his third straight games missed.
With Davis out, the Lakers and Ham will need to find ways to stay afloat in the standings until he comes back. It’s a tall task, but hopefully the Purple and Gold can scrape together enough wins and Davis will be back sooner rather than later.
Darvin Ham on Anthony Davis’ spirits
It must be mentally draining for someone like Davis to have to rehab another injury. However, Ham is making sure Davis is in good spirits and is doing everything he can to support his star.
“Obviously he’s disappointed. I talked to him last night and I talked to him again today when we got to the arena, just keeping him cheered up. He told me a great story about his daughter cheering him up. It’s not about the injury history, it’s about the level that he was playing at here recently, the entire season for that matter. When you’re playing at that type of level, it’s hard to face a situation where you may miss multiple games or whatever.
“So we’ll see, we’re gonna put our arms around him, we’re gonna love him and I told him to just be ready to coach his ass off. I think Coach Phil Handy and we were all laughing, he came into the coach’s office and I guess he has the nickname ‘iPad AD’ because he’s literally showing the young guys ways they can get better or different mistakes they’ve made. But I just want him to be mentally and spiritually engaged as much as possible if he can’t be physically with us.”
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