Lakers Hit With Devastating Injury News Before Training Camp

Getty Lakers head coach JJ Redick during a 2024 NBA Summer League game on July 17

The Lakers could start the 2024-25 season without Jarred Vanderbilt, who played only 29 games in the 2023-24 season due to injuries.

According to Spectrum SportsNet’s Mike Bresnahan, Vanderbilt is unlikely to join his teammates at the start of the Lakers’ training camp on October 1.

“Vando is gonna be interesting. I’m not sure he’ll be ready for training camp or even for the preseason games. It’s a foot injury,” Bresnahan said, via RealGM. “He opted not to have a procedure in-season when he got hurt in February. So, we’ll see if he’s ready to go. I don’t have a lot of details on it but I’m not sure he’ll be ready for training camp.

“Regular season is a different story, hopefully he’s ready by then. But nothing concrete on him yet,” Bresnahan added.

A versatile defender, the 6-foot-8 Vanderbilt played a key role in the Lakers reaching the 2023 Western Conference Finals. During that playoff run, he was assigned the role of guarding the opposition’s wing scorer, a job he performed exceptionally.

For his defensive versatility, Vanderbilt was rewarded with a four-year, $48 million contract extension that will keep him with the Lakers through the 2027-28 season.

Lakers Injury Bug

Besides Vanderbilt, the Lakers dealt with a ton of injury woes during the 2023-24 season. While Vanderbilt missed 53 games, Gabe Vincent and Cam Reddish sat out 71 and 34 games, respectively, due to various injuries. Similarly, Hachimura missed 14 games with an injury.

Although Vanderbilt’s status for the 2024-25 season remains up in the air, Vincent, Hachimura and Reddish are said to be ready for the start of training camp.

“Rui is ready to go, he’s fine,” Bresnahan said on his “LakeShow” podcast, via LakersNation. “He had that I think it was a hamstring injury in the Olympics, but he’s good to go. He’s been working out at the facility. I mentioned Gabe Vincent, like I really am excited to see what he can bring… He’s ready, he’s been working out a little bit.”

New Lakers Coach Raring to Go

On a related note, LeBron James and Anthony Davis are expected to be ready for the 2024-25 season despite expending energy at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

However, new Lakers head coach JJ Redick is confident that his co-stars will be able to attend training camp starting on October 1.

“I mean, look, those guys are professionals in every sense of the word,” Redick told the “LakeShow” podcast, via NBC Sports. “My concern for them about whether or not they’ll be ready to play on Oct. 22 and be in shape, I don’t have that concern. We’re gonna work with Mike and Ish making sure that they feel that they’re in a great place to start the regular season. They’ll certainly be involved in training camp and the preseason here in September as well as preseason games.”

Redick has also shown enthusiasm to start his first training camp on a high note.

In the same interview with the “LakeShow” podcast, Redick said he recruited his coaching staff, which includes former NBA head coaches Nate McMillan and Scotty Brooks, because they’re “grinders” and “sickos” just like himself.

“I couldn’t be happier with the staff that we’ve built here,” Redick said. “We have a blend of youth and experience. Obviously, Nate (McMillan) and Scotty (Brooks), but also Bob Beyer, who has been at the front of the bench for almost two decades in the NBA. The biggest thing for me was I wanted to make sure I had a bunch of sickos on my staff and I think I’ve accomplished that. They’re grinders.”

The Lakers kick off their 2024-25 season with a preseason game against the Timberwolves on October 4. They will start their regular-season campaign against the same team, the Timberwolves, on October 22.