Alex Caruso did not travel with the Los Angeles Lakers to San Antonio on Tuesday, according to Dan Woike of the Los Angleles Times. The Lakers already listed Caruso as eliminated for the game against Spurs on Wednesday night.
Caruso was not with his team when they played the Portland Trail Blazers at the Staples Center on Monday, due to NBA health and safety protocols. Caruso was originally listed as questionable on Monday due to a sprained right hand he suffered against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, but Frank Vogel announced ahead of the complaint on Sunday that Caruso’s absence was not the result of his injury.
“Alex is not going to play tonight, but not because of his pulse,” said Vogel. “He is not playing because of the league’s health and safety protocols.”
When asked what this specifically meant, Vogel said “Forrest Gump: that’s all I can say about it”. There has been no update on the availability of Caruso since Monday.
The NBA updated its health and safety protocols in December to include procedures on how teams should deal with the coronavirus. Since then, any mention of the league’s health and safety protocols has led people to believe that a player tested positive for the coronavirus, but it wasn’t always that way. At the moment, there is no reason to believe that the Caruso test was positive for the coronavirus.
Outside of Caruso, there is only one name on the Lakers’ injury report for Tuesday night’s contest: LeBron James, who was listed as questionable because of a sprained left ankle. James’ status was the same before the game on Monday and he played, but the Lakers may decide not to let him play three games in four days with an ankle injury.
James’s status will be updated before the report on Wednesday, which is at 5:30 pm
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