An injury to Jordan Clakson is the primary concern coming out of the Lakers loss to the Nuggets on Wednesday
The young core of D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson for the Los Angeles Lakers has been showing a ton of promise as of late, notably since the former was reinserted back into the starting lineup. Russell’s exploits have been phenomenal, but Clarkson too has benefitted from the rookie’s presence as they’ve been developing quite the rapport with one another. All of this makes an injury to Clarkson on Wednesday night in a loss to the Denver Nuggets all the more troubling.
Midway through the third quarter in a tight game, Clarkson attacked off the dribble from the right wing to try and get to the rim for a lay-up. When he came down, though, he was obviously hobbled and came out of the game and went back to the locker room less than a minute later:
After initial examinations, the injury was diagnosed as a patellar tendon strain with his status being left up in the air until Thursday when Clarkson will undergo tests on the knee to see how serious the injury is:
Clarkson will get his left knee evaluated tomorrow
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) March 3, 2016
Though a patella tendon strain on the surface should only keep Clarkson out for 1-2 weeks, the play that the injury occurred on is highly concerning considering that it’s a non-contact injury. While it’s not unanimously the case, NBA fans have been trained to fear the worst in that type of situation regarding a knee injury.
An injury to Clarkson would certainly help drive the tank forward, but this really couldn’t come at a worse time for the Lakers. As stated, Clarkson and Russell have been shining as the starting backcourt and really showing signs of developing into a backcourt for the future of the organization. While an injury wouldn’t completely derail that, it would stunt the process and that’s obviously less than ideal.
Next: Jordan Clarkson Was a Beast for Lakers in February
Fans will anxiously be awaiting word as to just how serious the injury to Clarkson is and it’s safe to say that the hope is that the initial diagnosis of just a strain is all that it is. For such a frustrating season, this is the last thing that the Lakers want or need to finish out the year.