Updates from Laker Practice: Xavier Henry, Jeremy Lin, Nick Young

There’s good news coming out of El Segundo.  Xavier Henry is participating in Laker practice.

While it’s fair to say he’s far from game shape, he is one step closer to playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Unfortunately, Jeremy Lin got an injury of his own.

Nick Young continues to take part in practice, getting shots with his left hand. Kobe Bryant and Greg Oden were out with injuries to the right hand earlier in their careers.  Kobe Bryant practiced shots and became a more effective shot blocker with his left hand.  Greg Oden began to shoot his free throws left-handed while playing for Ohio State.

We are just two games into the preseason, yet the injuries are starting to mount up. Wesley Johnson had a scare with his knee.  Jordan Clarkson is out with a calf strain. Ryan Kelly is out with a moderate hamstring injury.  There is a silver lining to the situation. The injuries seem to be short-term issues for now.  Jeremy Lin’s ankle injury seems to be minor, considering it’s going to be reevaluated tomorrow.

Carlos Boozer, Kobe Bryant, and Steve Nash remain healthy.  Byron Scott is paying special attention to both Bryant and Nash.

The Lakers need a healthy roster to build chemistry on and off-the-floor.  Jeremy Lin and Ed Davis were being counted on as the combined sixth-men while Nick Young is out.  Now Lin may need to slow down a bit.

The Lakers, as a team, may more in shape compared to other NBA teams.  However, the latest injuries are all leg related; ankles, knees, hamstrings, calves, clap, clap, clap. The biggest challenge for the Lakers is not to enter the playoffs, but just to play a healthy season.  That’ll allow the players to develop individually, as well as make it easier to build a championship culture for years to come.