Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis limped off the court Sunday night after reinjuring his Achilles tendon. There is swelling and Davis is expected to get an MRI on Monday, according to a report from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Late in the second quarter of the team’s game against the Denver Nuggets, Davis tried to drive to the basket but was cut off and fouled by Nikola Jokic. After the whistle, Davis hobbled back behind the basket and reached for his Achilles. He was able to make his way to the line but was grimacing and looked to be in serious pain while shooting his free throws.
When the Nuggets inbounded the ball, he didn’t make any effort whatsoever to move and had the Lakers take a foul to stop play so he could leave the game and head to the locker room.
Earlier this week, Davis missed two games because of Achilles tendinosis and told reporters he was trying to be as careful as possible because of the risk involved with that infamous body part:
“I think every other game … I’ve wanted to play in. This is just a different circumstance with it being an Achilles. If it was a quad or finger, anything like that, I wouldn’t mind playing. But I just don’t really want to play around with an Achilles. Today was the first day we were able to practice, get some run-in with some guys to really test it out.”
“I just don’t want to play a game where I still feel it and then get hurt and now I’m out for the playoffs or whatever or for multiple weeks, where it’s something I can’t control and maintain right now where you miss two games or three games early on in the season or midseason and be ready to go for the rest of the season.”
It’s still not clear exactly what happened to Davis, but hopefully it’s not the exact thing he was trying to avoid. If so, it would be a major blow to not only the Lakers, but the league in general.
