Los Angeles Lakers star striker Anthony Davis had his injuries reassessed by team doctors on Thursday night and will be absent for four weeks, said coach Frank Vogel.
Sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski earlier this week that Davis would be reevaluated in two to three weeks after suffering a calf strain and worsening Achilles tendinosis in his right leg on Sunday and would hardly return to the lineup before the NBA 5-10 March All-Star Pause.
“We want to leave it totally behind and be conservative about it, just to make sure it’s completely healed before he comes back,” said Vogel.
A Lakers spokesman said the new four-week period is an estimate and includes the time it would take for Davis to recover and recover from calf strain and tendonosis in his right Achilles tendon, as well as increasing his workouts and training to get back into the game.
“He is doing exactly what he needs to get back to the best health he can have,” said LeBron James. “He has an injury that he cannot move much, and as an organization, as his teammates, as I as his brother, he has all of our support. So don’t be in a hurry as much as he needs.”
Davis lost two games last week with tendonosis in his right Achilles tendon and had to abandon Sunday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets just before the break after aggravating the injury.
An MRI scan on Monday revealed the calf strain and worsening tendinosis, a source told Wojnarowski, but did not show a rupture of the right Achilles tendon.
James and Davis spent the final minutes of the Lakers’ 109-98 defeat to the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday together around the corner, immersed in conversation as the Nets put the finishing touches on the victory.
“When I go to the touchline, we’re talking about the game, that possession, that half, that quarter,” said James. “What can I do better? Does he see something that I could have done better? Does he see some things that we could have done better? Because he is still a great extension of our real team, even if he is not in uniform. So nothing changes although. “
The Lakers are 1-2 in their last three games, including Sunday’s loss to Denver when Davis injured his right leg and has seven more games in the next two weeks before the All-Star break.
When asked how LA will continue to try to stay at the top of the standings for a month without Davis, James said he is simply focusing on what lies ahead.
“I really didn’t even think that far, to be honest,” he said. “I’m taking this day after day. We play every other day. I don’t have the opportunity to look four weeks ahead. … I have to stay in the moment … Stay down and keep shooting. I didn’t even think about what it will look like. four weeks from now. “