Lakers Dealing With Injuries to 2 Star Players Heading into NBA Preseason Opener

The Los Angeles Lakers are already a little banged up as they get their preseason underway on Monday night against the Sacramento Kings.

Sep 24, 2026; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick speaks to the media during a press conference at UCLA Health Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Los Angeles Lakers will play their first NBA preseason game on Monday, traveling to the Golden 1 Center to take on the division rival Sacramento Kings.

Unfortunately, the new-look Lakers won’t have a couple of their stars on the basketball floor to start their preseason.

Walker Kessler & Austin Reaves to Sit First Preseason Game

According to Dan Woike of The Athletic, Lakers newcomer Walker Kessler and rising star Austin Reaves will not play against the Kings. Kessler is dealing with a jammed finger while Reaves is nursing a tweaked ankle.

Veteran guard Collin Sexton and Arthur Kaluma, who is on a two-way contract, also won’t play on Monday night.

JJ Redick says Walker Kessler will not play tonight after jamming his finger. Austin Reaves won’t play tonight after tweaking his ankle. Sexton and Kaluma are also out. Day to day for everyone - Redick says nothing major.

— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) October 6, 2026

Obviously, this is not the start to the preseason that the Lakers were hoping for, with two of their new Big 3 already dealing with injuries. 

According to Lakers reporter Mike Trudell, Kessler hurt his finger jamming it on the backboard, but he and Reaves are considered okay and will be day-to-day moving forward.

JJ Redick said Walker Kessler (hit his finger on the backboard) and Austin Reaves (tweaked his ankle) are both out tonight in the first preseason game at SAC, but both are “fine,” and are day-to-day.

Collin Sexton and Arthur Kaluma are both out tonight as well.

— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) October 6, 2026

Following Monday's game against the Kings, the Lakers will stay in the Bay Area and take on Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night in an unusual and a little perplexing back-to-back in the preseason.

Back-to-back situations are quite common during the regular season although still very tough on teams, but doing that in the preseason is strange, to say the least.

Rest of Lakers' Preseason Schedule

After spending a few days in the Bay Area, the Lakers will head home to Crypto.com Arena to face the Kings for a second and final time during the preseason on Oct. 8, which will be three games in four nights.

Then Doncic and company will hit the road for one last time during the preseason, facing the Warriors again at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Oct. 13. This is not surprising, as the Lakers usually play at least one game in Sin City during the preseason, and it is basically home game with a lot of the Lakers' faithful making the short trip to support the team.

Finally, the NBA preseason comes to an end for the Lakers on Oct. 16 when they play host to three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and the visiting Denver Nuggets.

On Oct. 21, the Lakers will begin the 2026-27 NBA regular season on their home floor in downtown Los Angeles taking on the Warriors.

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