Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham provided an extremely positive update on Lakers star Anthony Davis as he recovers from a stress injury in his right foot.
Ham revealed that the pain in Davis’ foot has “just about dissipated,” which is a good sign for him beginning to ramp up to return to the court.
Anthony Davis has nearly no pain in his right foot and is trending in the right direction to a ramp-up to return to the court, per Darvin Ham.
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) December 30, 2022
There still isn’t a hard timetable for Davis’ return, but this is about as good of an update as the Lakers could ask for on the eight-time All-Star.
Earlier reports surrounding Davis’ foot injury had said that he could miss around two or three months with the injury. The latest update from The Athletic’s Shams Charania revealed that Davis could miss time into mid-January.
For the Lakers, the sooner Davis is able to return (healthy, of course), the better. Los Angeles has struggled without him this season, going just 3-7 in the 10 games that he has missed.
Davis has been elite for the Lakers when he’s been in the lineup this season. The four-time All-NBA selection is averaging 27.4 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 59.4 percent from the field and 29.0 percent from 3-point range.
Injuries have been a major concern with Davis for the Lakers, as he played in just 40 games for the team last season. Los Angeles also didn’t have LeBron James for a big chunk of the season, and it ended up missing the playoffs.
In the 2020-21 season, Davis was limited to just 36 games due to injury. When he’s healthy, Davis has proven he’s one of the best players in the league.
Right now, the Lakers are the No. 13 seed in the Western Conference. They have a 14-21 record and are 3.5 games out of the play-in tournament in the West.
Ham’s update on Davis has to be viewed as a positive, as the lack of pain should allow the Lakers forward to start returning to basketball activities in hopes that he remains pain-free.
The Lakers take on the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night, and they have another road game on Monday against the Charlotte Hornets. The team is hoping to stay afloat with a few wins until Davis is ready to return.
