The injury bug hit the Lakers hard. Xavier Henry was assumed to be recovered by the beginning of the season. He had missed a few practices early on, but attended a few recently.
Mike Trudell gave an update to his condition.
Here’s an injury update on Xavier Henry: pic.twitter.com/DCIKvhXSHj
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) October 18, 2014
Lakers' Xavier Henry is Germany bound for Regenokine treatment. Should make a big difference for him.
— Yannis Koutroupis (@YannisNBA) October 18, 2014
This is the same treatment that Kobe Bryant had done years ago, and it worked wonders for his knees. Despite advancing in age, Bryant had regained some explosiveness prior to his achilles tendon injury. He was on the floor, playing like he was in his 27-year old prime.
It’s smart for Xavier Henry to get a second opinion. Lots of nagging injuries have hit the Laker team early. The season has not even started.
The injuries aren’t just tough for the player, but for the team as well. Building team cohesiveness on either end of the floor gets stalled. Players need to catch up just to get onto the same page as the healthy players.
Training camp is even more important for a coach in his first year with a team trying to put his stuff in; injuries detail that progress.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) October 18, 2014
Xavier Henry is one of the more exciting players of the Laker team. Last year, he came onto the team with a splash. He scored 27 points in a preseason game against the Golden State Warriors. He scored another 22 points and shot 8 of 13 from the field against the Clippers, in an unexpected win for the first game of the season.
Throughout the year, his role had changed. At one point, he was the defacto playmaker. Steve Nash was out. Kendall Marshall wasn’t acquired yet. He played bigger minutes while trying to gain consistency on his midrange jumpshot.
His go-to move is the crossover. He relies on his first-step and his upper-body strength to shed defenders on the way to hoop. He’s able to get there effectively, but sometimes his body contorts into a bad position, leading to a poorly missed shot.
Still, we look for Xavier Henry to not only get healthy, but become a consistent contributor for the team. The Lakers lack aggressive basketball players who can get to the hoop, and Xavier was one of the best on the team.