Lakers News: Darvin Ham Provides Surprising Update On Anthony Davis Recovery
Anthony Davis might actually recover from his latest major lower body injury in a timely way?
It's a (post-) Christmas miracle!
Per Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham has revealed that Davis actually appears to be on the mend. Davis suffered a right foot stress injury during a midair collision with two-time MVP Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic in a December 16th Lakers win, and after initially trying to play through it, wound up needing to be shelved "indefinitely."
"The biggest thing is, his pain has just about dissipated," Ham indicated. This is basically the best possible news Lakers fan could receive about a guy who gets hurt so much, and for so long, that he has been gleefully nicknamed "Street Clothes" by Hall of Fame power forward-turned-TNT broadcaster Charles Barkley.
That doesn't mean he's going to be back in the immediate future, but it sure sounds like AD may try to begin to build up his conditioning in the hopes of returning to the floor before the Lakers' 2022-23 campaign sinks completely. At the earliest, Davis was projected to be back by mid-January 2023.
LA has currently fallen to an uninspiring 14-21 record on the year thus far, including a 3-7 record when Davis sits.
The Brow was enjoying a borderline MVP campaign before being struck down by his annual injury. Though his jumper remained erratic, Davis embraced his inner center, exploiting his handle and athleticism while operating mostly from the post. For the season, he had been averaging 27.4 points (on 59.4% field goal shooting), 12.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.1 blocks and 1.3 steals a night through his 25 available bouts.
Thomas Bryant has stepped up as LA's starting center in the stead of the wounded Davis, averaging 14.3 points (on 59.6% shooting), 8.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 0.5 steals across his seven starts sans Davis, though he is not nearly the defender AD has been for the Lakers.
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