The shoulder injury that continues to nag Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis hasn’t seemingly impacted his play on the court.
Despite that, the veteran admitted on Sunday night that he feels the lingering effects of the problem on every play.
Anthony Davis on his lingering shoulder issue: "There’s really never a play I don’t feel it. But I’m going to go out there and play, I try not to let it affect my game. I just play through it and then worry about taking care of it after the game."
— Bill Oram (@billoram) November 11, 2019
The injury took place during the Lakers’ victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Oct. 27 when a Davis attempt to dunk failed. This resulted in his shoulder getting jammed. While the perennial All-Star was experiencing pain in the aftermath of the injury, he appeared to erase any concerns by delivering a 40-point, 20-rebound performance two nights later against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Davis’ numbers since have gone back to his more standard level of production and he’s still dealing with the pain. Exactly how long this issue might continue is unknown, but the Lakers are only nine games into their 82-game regular season schedule and are hoping to make a deep playoff run.
Despite the concern over his health, Davis has no intention of sitting out games. Some of the protective in-game measures he’s taken since the injury include wearing a compression t-shirt and having ice applied to the shoulder when he’s not on the court.
“I’m going to go out there and play. I try not to let it affect my game,” said Davis. “I just play through it and then worry about taking care of it after the game.”
During the preseason, Davis’ status was also cause for concern when he suffered a thumb injury in a game played in China. There was some concern then that he could miss the early part of the season, but he’s been in the lineup for all nine games played by the Lakers.
In those contests, he’s teamed with LeBron James to fuel a strong 7-2 start and has been a strong all-around performer. He’s currently averaging 26.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, a league-leading 3.1 blocks and 1.2 steals per game.
Davis and the Lakers next play on Tuesday night in Phoenix, followed by a home game the following night against the Golden State Warriors.
