Without the assistance of forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Los Angeles Lakers’ battle to make the Western Conference playoffs just got a lot more difficult.
James is out for the near future with a foot injury that happened in Sunday’s win over the Dallas Mavericks. Davis is dealing with his own foot trouble, and he’s out for Wednesday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Even with the Lakers in the middle of a playoff push, head coach Darvin Ham stressed the return of LeBron James and Davis won’t be dictated by results on the court.
According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, Ham said they “don’t want the circumstances of winning and losing games dictate how we manage our players’ health.” Ham also said the decision to hold Davis out of the contest with the Thunder is “precautionary,” and he’ll go through further testing before he returns to the court.
Obviously, Los Angeles would love to have the services of their two best players, but making sure James and Davis are fully healthy has to be the priority. As good as they are, they do have a recent history of injuries.
In James’ case, there have been times he probably could have sat out, but he chose to play through the pain. He did the same after injuring his foot on Sunday. With Davis, he has trouble going through a season without missing chunks of it due to injury.
From Ham’s words, don’t expect to see James or Davis until they’re fully healthy. Lakers fans hope it won’t be too late before they do return.
Source: https://clutchpoints.com
