ATLANTA — Lakers star big man Anthony Davis said pain in his right foot has been significantly reduced and imaging has shown that he's progressing in his healing.
Though Davis hesitated to put a timetable on his return, he said things are moving in the right direction.
"It's healing pretty quickly," Davis said. "So when we get back to L.A., we'll do another image of the foot, and see how far it's healed since the last time I did it, which was the 22nd or the 23rd. And it's really just about pain. The pain is still there, I still feel it a little bit, not as much as I did before. More like a two [out of 10], trending down to one. I've been lifting, and lifting is fine. Everything I do in the weight room is fine.
"If I see that it's healed properly, or enough where I can go start ramping up on the court, then we'll start that process."
Davis detailed the complexities of the injury, which he suffered Dec. 16 in the Lakers' win against Denver. In the first half of that game, Davis' foot kicked against Nikola Jokic's leg while he was in the air. Davis said that the pain began after he landed.
"It was bothering me; it was very painful," Davis said. "The doctor told me that I had a fracture and a bone spur in my foot. At that moment, and maybe leading into the next day, it was tough for me mentally just because of the fact that coming off last year with the injuries and coming out and having a mindset of getting back to who I want to be as a player, in that mold, and for something like this to happen was tough mentally.
"After that, it was just figuring out the next steps to getting back on the floor. The next day, they told me I had a stress reaction in my navicular bone, so I was kinda dealing with two problems. It comes from that piece, the bone spur continuously hitting the navicular bone, causing the stress on it, which is more alarming for me than the bone spur. The stress reaction [can lead to] a stress fracture, and that's a whole different ballgame."
Davis' injury is threefold. The bone spur fractured off the navicular bone and he's also dealing with the stress reaction.
Davis said he'd "probably" need surgery this offseason to remove the bone spur, which one doctor told Davis could've developed as early as college. Fractures in the navicular bone are considered a serious injury, often requiring surgery and lengthy recovery periods.
Davis said he met with five specialists in determining the injury and the road back, which for now means no surgery.
"I don't like surgery," he said. "I feel like, if it can be avoided, then let's avoid it. When that became an option, I wanted to make sure I get the best understanding for me because I'm the one who has to make the decision with that."
Davis said the encouraging news on his pre-Christmas scans pushed him even further away from the surgical option.
In 25 games this season, Davis is averaging 27.4 points and 12.1 rebounds.
