If the Los Angeles Lakers are going to turn their season around and deliver on the obvious potential of their star-studded roster, then they may have to do so without the services of Anthony Davis.
The 28-year-old is clearly a crucial part of Frank Vogel’s side and was, in theory, going to be part of a genuinely awesome trio alongside LeBron James and new arrival Russell Westbrook, but that hasn’t proven to be the case thus far.
The eight-time NBA All-Star suffered a mid-foot sprain during the Lakers victory over the Utah Jazz and is likely to be out for as much as four weeks. Davis has played in 37 of the Laker’s 58 games this season and is a player Vogel can not afford to be without for a lengthy period.
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When asked about how the Lakers would cope with the loss of Davis, who is into his third season at the organization, Vogel answered rather straightforwardly;
“Win games until we get him back,” before adding.
“It’s that simple. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We don’t know obviously how long it will be, but we gotta win as many games as we can down the stretch and believe in the group that we have. And hopefully, we’re able to get whole as quickly as possible.”
Anthony Davis missed 17 games of the season with an earlier sprained MCL in his left knee, and Vogel will have to hope the rest of his team pitches in at this crucial point in the season.
LeBron James has been in outstanding form for much of the campaign but hasn’t received adequate support, and Westbrook hasn’t come close to delivering the goods, and Lakers fans will hope there is enough in their armory to mount a strong home stretch if they are to make it to the postseason.
Some would have been surprised by the lack of action over the course of the trade window, but Pelinka has insisted that the inaction was something that was in alignment with the top stars of the team, with Pelinka stating;
“You can’t force another team to present yourself with a deal that is going to make your team be better. That’s up to them,”
“And throughout this process, we had different things we looked at and like I’ve done in the past had conversations with LeBron and Anthony about it, and I would say there’s alignment here. And that’s all that matters.”
Interestingly some reports suggest that this telling of events is contrary to what others have stated. The last thing the Lakers need at this stage of the season is another reason to implode.