The Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Philadelphia 76ers 118-104 on Tuesday, but their biggest loss of the night came early on when star forward Anthony Davis suffered an abdominal injury that forced him out of the contest.
Davis suffered the injury with 2:10 remaining in the first quarter, and it was evident that it wasn’t a small issue.
Here is the latest info on Davis’ injury.
Anthony Davis injury: How long is Lakers star going to be sidelined?
The Lakers report that Davis will be out at least a week.
All things Lakers: Latest Los Angeles Lakers news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.
Davis flew back to Los Angeles on Wednesday, in the middle of the team’s six-game road trip. The earliest that Davis could return to the team is for their home contest against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday, February 6.
Unfortunately, Davis could be out for much longer than a week. While the severity of Davis’s injury has not been reported, NBA injury insider Evan Jeffries offered an analysis on various timelines on X.
A Grade I abdominal strain usually requires just 7-10 days of recovery, but a Grade II strain requires 3-6 weeks of recovery, according to Jeffries.
Jeffries points out that the fact the Lakers were willing to call this a strain so quick is not a good sign.
Has Davis suffered an injury like this before?
Although Davis has a laundry list of injury woes behind him, he’s never suffered an abdominal injury that has kept him out of games before.
Most of his missed time has been due to injuries in his ankles, shoulders, and hands/fingers. The closest he’s ever come to this injury was in 2018 when he played through a bruised rib. Of course, he did not miss time for that injury.
Could the Lakers make a move to fill Davis’ absence?
With reports indicating that Davis will be re-evaluated in a week, it’s hard to say whether or not the team will make a trade prior to the Feb. 6 deadline. The team was already in need of frontcourt depth, but the impact of such a trade would be largely dependent on Davis’ availability.
If Davis suffered only a Grade I strain, the team could be inclined to roll with their current roster. If Davis was forced to miss more time, meaning he’d miss games past the trade deadline, the Lakers may be more inclined to make a trade. After all, the difference between the Lakers and the Western Conference’s 11th-seeded Warriors is just 3.5 games, and wouldn’t you know it, the Lakers play the Warriors on Feb. 6.
Sports Illustrated’s Peter Dewey reinforces this sentiment, writing ‘It’s possible that Davis’ injury causes the Lakers to look into the trade market for a center.’ With players like Chicago’s Nikola Vucevic and Portland’s DeAndre Ayton, the Lakers have some frontcourt options to choose from if they decide to go down that route.