It has been nearly a month since Anthony Davis played for the Los Angeles Lakers as he suffered a mid-foot sprain on February 16 against the Utah Jazz. Since that game, the Lakers have won just two games with a 2-6 record; both wins took 50+ points from LeBron James.
While most fans have rightfully punted on this season being a successful one for the Lakers, there are some that are holding out hope because of how dominant Anthony Davis and LeBron James are together. As long as AD can return in time, the Lakers cannot completely be ruled out.
The problem is that Anthony Davis’s injury does not seem promising. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski provided an injury update for Davis on NBA Countdown that was seemingly promising: Davis is hopeful to return for the postseason.
https://twitter.com/_Talkin_NBA/status/1502817587591360512
While this might seem promising and is certainly spun as positive from Woj, this is not promising.
Anthony Davis injury update is more troubling than promising for the Lakers.
Typically, when someone reports that a player is hopeful to return in a certain timeframe it indicates that it is far from a guarantee that it will happen. Keep in mind that Woj’s sources for this injury update are either people inside the Lakers or Klutch Sports. Of course, they are going to spin it in the most positive light.
So when the most positive light is that he is just hopeful for the playoffs? That is concerning for the Lakers, especially considering the initial timeframe for the injury.
When Davis suffered the sprain it was presented in a way that the Lakers “dodged a bullet” and that he would be re-evaluated in four weeks. Well, guess what? We are four weeks away from the injury and now we are being told that he is just now getting his walking boot off and is hopeful to play for the playoffs.
That is over a month away! Davis has not been the quickest healer in his NBA career and if he is returning for the Play-In Tournament then that is a disaster for the Lakers. Sure, it would be great to have AD back, but he needs to get some miles on his legs before the postseason begins.
If he is just thrust back into playoff basketball without getting a few regular-season games under his belt then the Lakers’ season will end the exact same way as it did last season (although it is expected this season).
The fact that we are a month removed from the injury, which was said to be re-evaluated in a month, and we are still a month away from him maybe playing… is troubling for the Los Angeles Lakers.