Los Angeles Lakers: Anthony Davis’ injury could cost multiple titles
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers lost by 17 points to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday and that was far from being the story of the game. Instead, every Laker fan was more focused on the status of Anthony Davis.
Davis left the game in the second quarter after shooting two free throws. Davis was clutching his Achilles and limped off the court. Davis has been dealing with Achilles tendonitis as he appeared to reaggravate the issue.
Davis is set to have MRIs on Monday. Regardless of what the MRI says, it is safe to say that we won’t be seeing Anthony Davis in action in the immediate future.
The Los Angeles Lakers have to be as cautious as possible with Davis. Achilles injuries are no joke and this is not something that could cost the Lakers the title this year, it isn’t something that could cost the title next year, but it is something that could cost multiple titles for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The potential long-term impact of an Anthony Davis Achilles injury on the Los Angeles Lakers
We talked about this in-depth on the latest episode of the Lake Show Life Podcast.
If the Lakers do not handle the situation properly and AD returns too early and tears his Achilles then the team’s title chances this season are likely over. LeBron James is fantastic and the Lakers are deep, but they don’t win the title without AD.
What about next year? If Anthony Davis were to tear his Achilles in late February after resting just a few games then he likely would not be able to return until next April or so, right before the NBA Playoffs begin.
MUST-READ: The 10 best Lakers teams of all-time
Sure, he would be back, but he would not be the same Anthony Davis, at least not right away. The Lakers won’t get elite AD after he misses 12-14 months with one of the worst kind of injuries an NBA player can suffer.
What about future seasons? LeBron is getting older and while he has defied Father Time to this point there will come a day in which he can no longer do so. Davis is set up perfectly to carry the torch from LeBron and contend for more titles with other stars on the Lakers in the future.
That could go to the wayside with an Achilles injury. Achilles injuries are so detrimental, just look at DeMarcus Cousins. Kevin Durant has overcome his injury and has been fantastic this season but we have no idea how it will impact his long-term success or future injury luck.
Simply put: a serious Achilles injury is one of the few things that could completely derail the next half-decade-plus for the Los Angeles Lakers. That is why this is such a serious issue and why the Los Angeles Lakers need to be as cautious as possible.
At the end of the day, all we can do as fans is keep our fingers crossed.