Less than 10 games into the new season, the Los Angeles Lakers are getting another headache with the oft-injured Anthony Davis.
Shams Charania of ESPN reported on Thursday that the Lakers star big man Davis is dealing with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Charania characterized the injury as a “nagging” one and added that Davis has been dealing with it since the end of last season.
Davis, who will turn 32 years old in March, appeared in a career-high 76 games for the Lakers last season and also featured for Team USA during the Paris Olympics this past summer. He has looked like a potential NBA MVP candidate in the early going this season with 32.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game through seven games. But Davis aggravated his foot injury during an ugly loss to the Detroit Pistons earlier this week and had to sit out of Wednesday’s blowout loss to the Memphis Grizzlies as a result.
Plantar fasciitis is an injury that is notoriously painful and has a tendency to linger. Though Davis could return to the lineup as soon as Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers, that is not what the Lakers want to hear with 74 games left to go this regular season. Davis also continues to play as their center, a physically unforgiving position, so the Lakers may need to make a roster move (such as this rumored one) before long in order to preserve Davis.
