Lakers’ Anthony Davis injury: chances of missing Game 6 with concussion

On Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers dropped Game 5 of their series against the Golden State Warriors, 121-106. With the loss, the series is now 3-2, but the Lakers still have a great opportunity on the way.

They’ll head back to Crypto.com Arena on Friday night with a chance to close things out at home. Meanwhile, the Warriors will look to extend the series even further and bring it back to Chase Center, where they were dominant during the regular season, going 33-8.

However, a huge fear is now looming over the Lakers’ heads.

Could Anthony Davis’ injury keep him out of the Lakers’ Game 6?

Midway through the fourth quarter, Warriors center Kevon Looney accidentally elbowed Lakers big man Anthony Davis in the side of the head while going for a rebound.

Davis immediately clutched his head and would end up exiting the game. Per Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Davis was wheeled back to the locker room in a wheelchair after the incident.

That being said, TNT’s and Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes revealed that Lakers head coach Darvin Ham stated Davis is doing alright.

The immediate concern for Lakers fans should be Davis’ health heading into Game 6 of the series. By the looks of the injury, there’s a chance he suffered a concussion, and that would lead to a long list of protocols.

What are NBA concussion protocols, and how do they affect Anthony Davis and the Lakers?

According to the NBA’s official concussion protocols, four requirements must be met before he gets back on the court if Davis were to be diagnosed with a concussion.

He must be without symptoms at rest, must be evaluated by a physician, must complete the NBA’s return-to-participation (RTP) process, and a team physician needs to discuss Davis’ potential return with the NBA Concussion Program.

The RTP process, detailed in the tweet above, involves various physical activities and constant evaluation by physicians. There is no set timeframe.

However, the issue in the case of Davis is that the RTP process cannot begin sooner than 24 hours after the diagnosis of a concussion is given, according to Associate Professor of UCSF Orthopedic Surgery Dr. Nirav Pandya.

And with Game 6 set to take place on Friday night, Davis would be cutting it close, especially considering he was exhibiting symptoms of a concussion immediately after the incident.

With the Lakers’ season on the line in these next two games, Davis will be crucial, and they need him on the court. But most importantly, they just need him to get healthy.

Fortunately, Haynes’ latest report late Wednesday night appears to hint the Lakers could dodge a bullet.

And his update on Thursday was even more encouraging: