Lakers Get Positive Update on Austin Reaves's Calf Injury Following MRI

Reaves went down on Friday night but shouldn't miss too much time.
The Lakers shouldn't miss Reaves for very long
The Lakers shouldn't miss Reaves for very long / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images
In this story:

The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a fright on Friday night when Austin Reaves went down with a lower-body injury against the Los Angeles Clippers. Fortunately for the Lake Show, Reaves doesn't appear set to miss much time.

On Saturday, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Reaves underwent an MRI for his calf injury, and the results showed no sign of serious injury. The Wichita State product is considered day-to-day, although his status for Sunday's rematch against the Clippers is "uncertain," per Charania.

It's a pretty significant development for the Lakers. Reaves is an incredibly important third wheel as the primary ball handler when Luka Doncic and LeBron James sit, and his ability to attack defenses when their attention is turned to one of his star teammates is invaluable. The Lakers are not operating with much margin for error and his absence would have been problematic. Currently, the franchise sits at 37-21 on the season.

Reaves, 26, is averaging 19.1 points and 6.0 assists per game for Los Angeles in a career season. The third-year forward has missed only five games so far in 2024-25.


More of the Latest Around the NBA

feed


Published
Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.