Report: Anthony Davis could return for Lakers before All-Star break

The Los Angeles Lakers could really use the services of injured big man Anthony Davis right now, as they have lost their last three games to fall to 13th in the Western Conference.

In some great news, it seems like Davis might be back on the court pretty soon. NBA insider Shams Charania recently offered an update regarding when the Lakers hope Davis can return to action.

“Anthony Davis is expected to start running now,” Charania began. “So, once that happens and he’s back onto the floor running full speed, that point he’s going to progress to contact work in the relative near future. And so, I’m told that the hope is that Anthony Davis is going to be able to get back out on the floor with a handful of games left before the All-Star break.”

Davis has missed the Lakers’ last 15 games after suffering a stress injury in his right foot against the Denver Nuggets on Dec. 16. The Lakers have gone 7-8 during that stretch.

While they have been outmatched in many of those games, they surely would’ve been able to grab a few more wins had Davis been out on the floor.

The University of Kentucky product was having an MVP-caliber season before suffering the injury. He’s averaging 27.4 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 59.4 percent from the field.

The former No. 1 overall pick was playing like one of the best players in the league and hadn’t missed many games after missing plenty of contests over the previous two seasons.

Lakers head coach Darvin Ham provided a positive update on Davis on Saturday, and it was recently reported that the Lakers were optimistic that the eight-time All-Star could start targeting a return to game action pretty soon.

With their recent losing streak, the Lakers have dropped in the Western Conference standings and are 1.5 games back of the final play-in tournament spot in the West.

A small winning streak could change things and catapult them pretty high up. They are only three games back of the Los Angeles Clippers in sixth place.

Getting Davis back as soon as possible would help in a great way, but the center should take his time and make sure he’s fully ready before returning to the floor.