Injury Report

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Mo Bamba has been evaluated by Lakers team doctors and has been diagnosed with a high left ankle sprain. He will be re-evaluated in approximately four weeks.

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Mo Bamba Injury Update

LeBron James has been evaluated by Lakers team physicians and medical staff, and it has been determined that he has sustained a right foot tendon injury. James will be reevaluated in approximately three weeks.

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LeBron James Injury Update

Mike Trudell

Anthony Davis spoke to assembled beat reporters prior to Friday evening’s Lakers game at Atlanta, providing an update on his injured foot.

Q: An update on how he’s feeling, and how he’s dealing with things mentally.Davis: Feeling a lot better. Pain has subsided tremendously. That initial, when it first happened, I honestly didn’t feel anything at all for the whole season. And even before the game, warming up, nothing was alarming in my foot. And then that one move, I guess kind of caused whatever it caused. So when I went to get an X-Ray at halftime, it was bothering me, it was very painful. The doctor told me that I had a fracture and a bone spur in my foot. At that moment, and maybe leading into the next day, it was tough for me mentally just because of the fact that coming off last year with the injuries, and coming out and having a mindset of getting back to who I want to be as a player, in that mold, and for something like this to happen was tough mentally. After that, it was just figuring out the next steps to getting back on the floor. The next day, they told me I had a stress reaction in my navicular bone, so I was kinda dealing with two problems. It comes from that piece, the bone spur continuously hitting the navicular bone, causing the stress on it, which is more alarming for me than the bone spur. The stress reaction (can lead to) a stress fracture, and that’s a whole different ballgame. 

Q: On next steps.AD: I think the next step is it’s healing right now. I don’t want to use timetables (and shit) because that’s a whole different thing, but it’s healing pretty quickly. So when we get back to L.A., we’ll do another image of the foot, and see how far it’s healed since the last time I did it which was the 22nd, I think, or the 23rd. And it’s really just about pain. The pain is still there, I still feel it a little bit, not as much as I did before. More like a two (out of 10), trending down to one. I’ve been lifting, and lifting is fine. Everything I do in the weight room is fine. If I see that it’s healed properly, or enough where I can go start ramping up on the court, then we’ll start that process.

Q: On if it happened on the play where he made contact with Nuggets center Nikola Jokic:AD: Yeah, they’re saying that I hit his leg, but … that was the play, but I didn’t feel anything until I landed. And I started going back down the floor, and I was still able to play through it, but then towards the middle of the second (quarter) is where it started really kicking in, where it started to hurt where I just couldn’t really run, which caused for me to go get the X-Ray, because I knew it was probably something bigger than just a (little thing).

Q: On if there is a fracture:AD: Fracture in the bone spur, then a stress reaction in the navicular bone.

Q: On what procedure was considered:AD: Umm, removing the bone spur out. Add more weeks to the … yeah.

Q: On LeBron’s comments about winning:AD: Umm, I mean he’s right. I’m pretty sure everybody in the league wants to be competitive and compete for championships. It sucks to lose. And especially coming off of last year, and then you come into this year and you start off 2-10 and you make a run, and then we (are trying to) re-track on what we were doing. Yeah, mean it’s tough. I mean he’s not getting any younger. Of course it would only make sense that he would want to compete for championships in the X amount of years he has left in him. So I took nothing from it. I took it for exactly what it was, what he said, and I feel like it’s a true statement.

Q: On finding his rhythm once he returns, after playing at such a high level prior to the injury:AD: Nah. I'm just really excited to get back on the floor, whenever that date is, to pick up where I left off. That's my mindset. Hasn't been a 'Man, it's going to take me x amount of games to get back in rhythm,' or 'Might not be the same.' That's not even been a thought in my mind. My thought has been, whenever that day is, it's go time. 

Q: On if there something maybe there before?AD: Bone Spur. So they said the bone spur has really been there for years. One doctor even said they'd bet it was probably there when I was at Kentucky. That's how long it's been there. So, it never bothered me my entire career. I never had foot problems or anything. I'm not sure what about that play caused it to happen. I haven't had any problems, not even an 'Ahhh' telling my trainer my foot was a little sore. Nothing. 

Q: On all the different conversations with doctors:AD: One, two, three, four, five I think? Five doctors just taking the imaging and sending it around and just getting information. Especially in the beginning, when they were talking about surgery. Well, I don't like surgery. I feel like, if it can be avoided, then let's avoid it. When that became an option, I wanted to make sure I get the best understanding for me because I'm the one who has to make the decision with that. And it's kinda taken time to think about it. And when the doctors said 'Well, usually when you get an MRI right after the injury, days later, four, five, six, seven days later, it's actually worse because it allows your body to, whatever needs to go, adeema all this stuff, all these medical terms, get a chance to set in. And usually when it's right after, nothing has happened but swelling, which I didn't have. That's why that week, there was nothing. Just waiting to see. Took more imaging, I think, on the 22nd and it actually has gotten better, which was a good sign. Which also kinda pushed me further away from the surgery option. If a week of real hard treatment and things like that and it's healing and trending in the right direction in a week, I can only imagine what it can do if we start adding this treatment and shockwave, bone stim and all these things. It's kinda been what it's like. And now, just watching it and MRI'ing it to death and making sure it's continually doing what it's supposed to do. 

Q: On if he will have to take care of the spur later in the offseason?AD: Probably. Probably. I think the toughest thing is just, kinda twofold. You want to come back as soon as possible to play. But there's also a thing when the spur heals, when the fracture and whatever it is, possibly, it could happen again because it's not taken out. It's there. But then it could be nothing. Definitely something to consider, in the offseason, to remove it. I think the biggest thing is the stress reaction, though, just monitoring that. Because that can definitely lead to six, seven, eight months out -- which I would rather take four weeks than seven months. I'm not saying I'll be back in four weeks -- but hopefully. But we don't know. 

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Anthony Davis Injury Update

Lakers team doctors have diagnosed two-way forward Cole Swider with a navicular stress reaction of the right foot.

Swider will be reevaluated in approximately four weeks, and further updates will be provided at that time.

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Cole Swider Medical Update

Lakers center Thomas Bryant underwent successful surgery today to repair the ulnar collateral ligament on his left thumb.

Bryant will be reevaluated by team doctors in approximately three weeks, and further updates will be provided at that time.

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Thomas Bryant Medical Update

Lakers guard Dennis Schröder underwent successful surgery today to repair the ulnar collateral ligament on his right thumb.

Schröder will be reevaluated by team doctors in approximately three weeks, and further updates will be provided at that time.

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Dennis Schröder Medical Update

LeBron James’ left ankle was recently reevaluated by Lakers medical staff, and it was determined that due to the ankle sprain James suffered in a game on March 27th, he will miss the remainder of the 2021-22 NBA season to allow for continued healing and an expected full recovery.

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LeBron James Medical Update

Anthony Davis spoke to reporters for the first time since injuring his foot on Feb. 16. Below is a transcription of his comments.

On how he’s feeling and his progression:

AD: “I feel good. The swelling has definitely decreased, the function of my foot has increased. That was the main thing, trying to get that swelling down on the strain of the muscle. You guys could see when I first did it, it was bad. But we’re moving in the right direction, every day. I was able to get out of the boot, put a shoe on, and then got cleared today to do some shooting [on Monday].”

On what spot shooting will entail and what he has been able to do cardio wise over the last few weeks:

AD: “As far as the shooting, I’m not too sure if I’ll be able to do some movement. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to jump a little bit. The doctor has to talk with trainers to see exactly what I can do. In terms of cardio, there wasn’t too much I could do but I have been doing little interval circuits with high intensity weight training. So, like grabbing some dumbbells and we were going super-fast to get the cardio going. I was doing some battle ropes. But getting cleared to shoot, I don’t know if I’ll be cleared to jog a little bit now where I can get on the treadmill. I’ve been wearing a heart rate monitor to get my heart rate up. I’ve never really gotten out of shape. Even with my knee, I still feel I came back just fine.”

On his level of optimism to be able to return to games soon:

AD: “I’m very optimistic about it. Especially with the situation that we’re in with the Play-In and actually the fight to stay within the Play-In game. I’m trying to get back on course as soon as possible. As far as a number, I would love to say 100 [percent] but with only a certain number of games left, I’m not too sure.”

On how he can regain the confidence he was playing with when he returned from his earlier knee injury:

AD: “I miss being out on the floor. So, when I got the chance to get back out there, it was like ‘aw I missed you,’ and I was able to play at the elite level. It’s kind of the same now, especially because of how different our position is. We’re fighting to stay in the Play-In game and fighting to get into the playoffs. I’m trying to rush back but do it the right way, so I don’t reinjure the foot. Obviously, timing is of the essence. Just have to take it day-by-day and be smart about it.”

On if he’s better at focusing on his rehab because of past injuries despite external voices telling him something differently:

AD: “Unfortunately, I’ve been in this situation several times and this year it was twice where it has been out of my control to a certain extent [i.e. player falling into his knee and landing on another player’s foot]. I’ve learned over the years that when I’m rehabbing I kind of just put myself into this bubble and lock in to try and get back as soon as possible. And I’ve also been better at rehabbing the rest of my body. I’ve learned to do that over the years, and it’s helped me in my returns.

On the possible rematch with this same Phoenix Suns team, should the Lakers make it into the playoffs:

AD: “Obviously we owe [Phoenix]. The got us last year so, anytime a team knocks you out, out of the playoffs especially, you always look forward to those games and if we have a chance of a possible playoff series with [Phoenix], we know it’ll be a lot more electric than it was last year. From the standpoint of, we feel like we owe them and they feel like they have our number. That would be fun and hopefully we’ll be able to get that matchup, or whatever the matchup is.”

On if he feels the outcome of the series could have changed if he was fully healthy:

AD: “Of course. I think they know that. Me going down kind of changed the whole series and they had that confidence. My groin was killing me in Game 6, and I just feel they got away with one.

On how he is considering his health with how many injuries he’s gone through over the course of the last two seasons:

AD: “Both of the injuries could have been a lot worse. So, even though it’s a negative thing, I look at the positives and having positivity. Whereas if I didn’t train the way I train, there’s no telling what these injuries could have been. These are two injuries I couldn’t really control but continue to do what I’ve been doing to maintain the strength, the muscles, and the tendons in my body to stay strong. To be able to kind of withstand these injuries where they aren’t as bad [could’ve had a broken foot, torn ACL]. The doctors always tell me it could have been a lot worse so, I’m just taking the positivity out of that and continue to do what I’ve been doing as reconstructing my body to avoid anything larger or more detrimental.”

On how the last few weeks have been being on the sideline and his involvement with the team:

AD: “LeBron is a hell of a player. We’re up and down. It’s been that way all year especially on the defensive end. Offensively I’m not too concerned but the last two seasons we’ve been one of the top teams defensively. And this year, I don’t even know where we are, to be honest. That’s not like us. So that’s the biggest thing with us, I get so frustrated when we miss assignments or things like that because we know what we’re supposed to do on the defensive end. I’m that defensive anchor for our guys and when I’m not out there we have a lot of miscommunications and mishaps. That’s the biggest thing I’ve seen from our group. Not being as validated as we should be defensively. But then it’s the sense of urgency from me to try and get back out there because I know I can help these guys, especially on the defensive end. I can only say so much from the sideline when these guys are playing. Trying to be involved as much as I can [defensively] knowing we have coaches and other guys who can handle the offensive end.”

On if this second injury was more upsetting than the first:

AD: “When it first happened, I heard the crunching and everything in my foot. And when I first looked up, I think it was Royce O’Neale or Donovan Mitchell turn around and was like ‘Oh [expletive].’ And when I looked down, I couldn’t move my foot. The first thing I thought was, ‘please don’t be broken.’ I couldn’t move it whatsoever, I tried to walk on it. I just couldn’t do it. I took the tape off and it was huge. Like the size of a softball right in the midfoot. They ran the MRI and determined it would about four to six weeks. I’ve never watched [the play] again. So, it was more of anger, like I just got out of a four to six, now I’m on another four to six, so that’s where the anger came from. It was a little bit of relief that it wasn’t as bad as it could have been but more so anger of here we go again.”

On LeBron’s performances and how much time is left to contend together:

AD: “Very short window. We don’t know how long he has left in this league. Phenomenal player. Future hall of famer. Being able to play alongside him, you want to take advantage of that. We did the first year. Last year we were both banged up and this year kind of the same but more so me. Now that window, every day, is closing. That’s another frustrating part. A lot of guys don’t get to play with talent like that. I had the opportunity to do so and I want to take advantage of that time. I think he has another year left and then who knows. I don’t know what he's going to do but we have this year and next year to take advantage of that and get another ring out of it.”

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Game Time Update: The start time for the preseason game on 10/15 at Crypto.com Arena has been moved to 4pm PT