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Everybody involved with the Los Angeles Lakers had the biggest scare of the year on Tuesday when superstar Anthony Davis took a hard fall against the New York Knicks. The big man writhed in pain on the floor for a few minutes before he was able to get up. Fortunately for the purple and gold, it apparently looked a lot worse than it was. Head coach Frank Vogel had a chance to give an update on Davis on Thursday.
According to Bill Oram, Vogel said Davis is “still very sore but not ruled out for [Friday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks.” Vogel added that Kyle Kuzma will get the nod if Davis can’t go.
While his status sounds very much up in the air for the Dallas game, fans should breathe a sigh of relief that it doesn’t look like he’s going to be out for very long, if at all. Davis has battled injuries for much of his career, so anytime he goes down hard, it’s cause for concern. Luckily, the Lakers and he dodged a bullet this time.
Lakers Avoided Catastrophy
If Davis missed time, there’s no doubt it would spell big trouble for the Lakers. If he was done for the year, the team may have kissed their championship hopes goodbye. Vogel admitted that losing the forward would be a disaster.
“It could have been catastrophic,” Vogel said, via Melissa Rohlin. “It seems like we’ve avoided that sort of prognosis, but it’s been good news everything we’ve heard everything since the injury happened and we’ll continue to keep an eye on it just day-to-day.”
Based on everything that’s come out, there doesn’t seem to be much to worry about concerning Davis’ injury. That said, if he’s dealing with any significant pain, the Lakers should ease him back. There’s no reason to risk further injury this early in the season.
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It’s up to the Medical Team If He Plays
While the arrow is pointing upwards for Davis, it’s unknown if he’ll be cleared just yet. Vogel is leaving it up to the medical team.
“It will be communication by what he’s reporting pain-wise and the evaluation of the medical team,” he said, via Rohlin. “Really it will be strictly on that. They’ll give me a recommendation whether he’s cleared or not and then we’ll make a decision.”
The Lakers have a comfy lead in the Western Conference. In the era of “load management,” it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for Davis to sit out a few games. However, that’s not how Vogel is going to treat his players.
“If there’s reason for guys to be out, they’ll be out,” he said. “If there’s not, then they’re in the lineup.”
It looks like if Davis is healthy enough to go on Friday, he’ll get the nod. The Mavericks are seven games behind the Lakers for the Western Conference lead, but Los Angeles isn’t going to be too keen on decreasing that lead.
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