Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis got hit in the eye while blocking a shot from Toronto Raptors big man Jakob Poeltl in the third quarter of Sunday’s Lakers-Raptors matchup.
Anthony Davis with the HUGE block
But gets hit in the eye in the process and is down in pain pic.twitter.com/LPgccXjDm7
— LakeShow Highlights (@LSH_lakeshow) November 11, 2024
Davis exited the game after suffering his eye injury, and Lakers head coach J.J. Redick said that the 31-year-old was experiencing vision problems.
JJ Redick on AD's eye injury: "He was having trouble seeing"
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) November 11, 2024
Additionally, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, Davis had a hard time keeping his left eye open as a result of swelling.
Sources told ESPN that Lakers big man Anthony Davis experienced swelling as a result of the contact by Jakob Poeltl, making it difficult to keep his left eye open. Davis will have the eye examined by an ophthalmologist Monday, sources told ESPN, as a “precautionary” measure.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 11, 2024
Despite the fact that Davis played under 30 minutes against the Raptors before he left the game, the Lakers still went on to win the game by 20 points thanks to a strong performance from the NBA’s oldest player.
LeBron James totaled a triple-double, as he ended up with 19 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds. He also found the bottom of the net on six of his 14 shots from the field.
The severity of Davis’ injury isn’t clear at this time, but if he has to miss an extended period of time, that would be a major blow for the Lakers. After all, Davis has played at an MVP level so far this season and has looked like probably Los Angeles’ best player.
Through nine games played in his sixth season as a Laker, he’s averaging 31.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per contest.
Fortunately for the Lakers, the team will have a few days off before its next regular-season game, which will give the squad some time to evaluate Davis’ injury status. Los Angeles won’t play again until Wednesday, when it will square off against the Memphis Grizzlies for the second time this season already.
The Lakers lost the first matchup of the 2024-25 regular season between the two teams on Nov. 6, which also was the final game of Los Angeles’ five-game road trip.
Here’s hoping that Davis’ injury will prove to be nothing too worrisome, as he’s already missed numerous games during his Lakers tenure due to a myriad of injuries. He has played in 70-plus games in a season just once since he joined the Lakers.
