Los Angeles Lakers: Anthony Davis injury history and updates

How often has Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis been injured throughout his career? The Los Angeles Lakers have been limited the last two seasons as Davis got hurt in the 2021 NBA Playoffs and missed half of the next season.

Is it fair to call Anthony Davis injury-prone? Let’s break down Anthony Davis’ injury history and you can be the judge of that. It is important to note that we are only considering injuries that made him miss multiple games. If he missed one game it is not included. Before we do, though, some important updates…

Anthony Davis injury update (December 2022): Right foot injury will keep Davis out at least a month.

Anthony Daivs suffered a foot injury against the Denver Nuggets on Friday, December 16. This is the same foot that Davis injured during the 2022-23 season and the initial reports are not promising. Davis is expected to miss at least a month of action, with the Lakers preparing for him to potentially miss even more time.

Anthony Davis injury history:

Anthony Davis right foot sprain, February 2021

Anthony Davis missed 18 games with a right foot sprain in February of 2021. He finished the 2021-22 season with 40 games played.

Anthony Davis MCL sprain, December 2021

Davis missed a 17-game stretch earlier in the 2021-22 season with an MCL sprain that he suffered on December 17 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Anthony Davis strained left groin, 2021

Davis suffered a strained left groin in Game 4 in the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs. Davis tried to return in Game 6 with the Lakers facing a 3-2 deficit but quickly reaggravated the injury.

Anthony Davis calf/Achilles injury, 2021

Davis only played 36 of the 72 regular-season games in 2020-21 after dealing with a calf/Achilles injury that the Los Angeles Lakers were understandably extremely cautious with. This represented the first significant injury for Davis as a member of the Lakers.

Anthony Davis sacral contusion, 2020

The first injury that Davis missed time for with the Los Angeles Lakers was in January of his first season. Davis landed hard on the floor and suffered the contusion, which is right above the tailbone.

Davis wound up missing five games with the injury, returning 13 days after the initial fall.

Anthony Davis left index finger sprain, 2019

In his last year with the New Orleans Pelicans, which was marred with controversy as he was very obviously trying to force his way to Los Angeles, Davis sprained his left finger in January and missed a good portion of time.

While Davis may have already been checked out of New Orleans mentally, the all-star forward missed nine games with this injury spanning three weeks.

Anthony Davis strained left groin, 2017

Yep, you read that right. The same groin that is currently giving Davis issues gave him issues back in 2017. The official diagnosis of this injury was a left abductor strain but it seemed to be very serious at the time; even more serious than this injury.

Davis had to be wheelchaired into the locker room, which is always a cause for concern. He wound up only missing three games for a grand total of one week. Unfortunately, the Lakers do not have an entire week for him to heal.

Anthony Davis knee/shoulder injury 2016

The New Orleans Pelicans shut Davis down early at the end of the 2015-16 season as he was dealing with lingering knee and shoulder issues. While nothing serious was diagnosed, the Pelicans made the decision to rest Davis instead of making him play through it.

Davis missed the last 14 games of the season.

Anthony Davis back contusion 2016

In January of that same season, Davis suffered a back injury three minutes into a game against the Indiana Pacers. Davis was removed from that game and wound up missing another two. The diagnosis was a back contusion caused by jumping into the seats to retrieve a loose ball.

Anthony Davis bruised hip, 2015

Even earlier in that same season, Davis missed multiple games with a bruised hip.

Anthony Davis sprained ankle, 2015

Davis missed two games in March of 2015 with a sprained ankle. He returned five days after the injury and was back playing 40 minutes.

Anthony Davis sprained shoulder, 2015

Just weeks before suffering the sprained ankle, Davis sprained his shoulder early in a game against the Miami Heat and wound up missing a good chunk of time. Davis missed five games after being pulled early against Miami for a total of 11 days.

This was a lingering issue that Davis was trying to play through. Davis sat out two games and the game he was pulled early from was only his second game back.

Anthony Davis sprained left toe, 2015

The 2015 calendar year was not good for Davis. It kickstarted with a sprained left toe in January that resulted in him missing three games and a total of one week.

Anthony Davis back spasms, 2014

Davis has suffered minor back spasms as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers and missed a good portion of time at the end of the 2014 season with the same issue. Davis did not play in the final five games of the 2013-14 season due to the back spasms.

Anthony Davis fractured left hand, 2013

Davis suffered a fractured left hand in December of 2013. He played only 10 minutes against the New York Knicks, which is when the injury occurred, missing a total of seven games and 17 days.

Anthony Davis left knee sprain, 2013

The left side of Davis’ body has not been good to him in his career. He missed the final three games of his rookie season with a sprained MCL and bone bruise in his left knee.

Anthony Davis sprained left shoulder, 2013

Davis missed two games in late February of his rookie season after spraining his left shoulder in a collision with Brook Lopez.

Anthony Davis stress reaction in left ankle, 2012

Davis has the biggest injury of his career just weeks into his NBA career (that is, up until this year’s injury). Davis missed 11 games due to a stress reaction in his left ankle, missing just under a month of action.

Anthony Davis concussion, 2012

The first injury of Davis’ professional career was a concussion that he suffered in only his second career game. Davis played just 14 minutes against the Utah Jazz before suffering the injury, missing the following two games as a result.

So is Anthony Davis injury prone? You can decide.