When Anthony Davis suffered a stress injury in his foot a couple of weeks ago, it seemed the Los Angeles Lakers’ chances of returning to the NBA playoffs went from small to very slim.
There has been no real timetable given for his return, especially given the tricky nature of stress injuries, but it is possible he returns sometime in January if his ailment isn’t severe and it responds positively to rest and treatment.
On Friday, the superstar big man said his foot has definitely responded positively to rest, and it sounds as though he’s hopeful he can return sooner than later.
“Feeling a lot better. The pain has subsided tremendously” @AntDavis23 with an update and some clarity on his injury. pic.twitter.com/QNK602ZmZV
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 31, 2022
Via ESPN:
“Feeling a lot better, pain has subsided tremendously,” Davis told a small group of L.A.-based reporters before the Lakers played the Atlanta Hawks. “I think the next step is [the foot] healing right now. I don’t want to use timetables because that’s a whole different thing, but it’s healing pretty quickly.
“So when we get back to L.A., we’ll do another image of the foot, and see how far it’s healed.”
Davis revealed he was also diagnosed with a bone spur in the same foot and that the pressure of that bone spur is what caused the stress reaction in the navicular bone of that foot.
He said that at first, it caused a level of pain that was at a nine out of 10, but that now, that level is down to a two and “trending down to one.”
According to Davis, he saw five doctors after sustaining the injury. Surgery was recommended to remove the bone spur, but Davis didn’t want to go that route, which would’ve meant a longer absence, although he admitted he may end up having a procedure during the offseason.
For now, though, if his next MRI comes back clean, he will start getting treatment for the stress injury.
The Lakers hope he can fast-track that process. The injury has left a humongous hole in their lineup.
