Bad news regarding Christian Wood’s injury status

Backup big man Christian Wood may be done for the season after the latest update on his injured knee.

As the Los Angeles Lakers fight to, at the very least, hold on to the final play-in tournament spot in the Western Conference, they’re having to go to war while somewhat short-handed.

Guard Gabe Vincent and forward Jarred Vanderbilt, arguably their two best perimeter defenders, have been out for several weeks due to a knee ailment and foot sprain, respectively. While both have made progress and are doing some cautious, conservative work, neither seems particularly close to returning.

It’s also easy to forget that backup big man Christian Wood is also out of action due to a knee ailment of his own. He hasn’t played since Feb. 14, and he will reportedly have a procedure that will keep him out for several more weeks.

Given the team’s situation, it could very well mean his season is over.

Via ESPN:

“Lakers forward Christian Wood will undergo an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee and is expected to be sidelined for several weeks, sources told ESPN on Monday,” wrote Dave McMenamin.

While Wood, who established himself as a very capable scorer in prior seasons, has been a disappointment with L.A., he has shown an ability to help the team with his rebounding.

Without him, its big man depth has been seriously depleted. Its only backup center right now is Jaxson Hayes, who is an energy player but is lacking on the defensive end and doesn’t have any real offensive skills.

Anthony Davis’ status update versus the Hawks after eye injury

Will Anthony Davis play for the Lakers on Monday after getting poked in the eye on Saturday?

The Los Angeles Lakers lost yet another important game on Saturday, this time to the Golden State Warriors, 128-121. As a result, they have fallen into 10th place in the Western Conference behind the Warriors, and they’re three full games behind the eighth-place Phoenix Suns.

To add injury to insult, the Lakers lost Anthony Davis during Saturday’s contest. He was poked in the eye during the first quarter, and after leaving the game toward the end of the period, he didn’t return. His absence was very conspicuous, especially on the defensive end.

The superstar big man is listed as questionable for Monday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks.

The good news is that, according to a source, he has been improving. He reportedly had so much swelling in his hurt eye that it was swollen shut.

Los Angeles is 6-6 since the All-Star break, and it could be on the verge of gradually falling apart as the regular season winds down.

Gabe Vincent nearing the final step of his return process

Could Lakers guard Gabe Vincent’s return be imminent?

The Los Angeles Lakers showed signs of life in late January and February, winning 11 of 16 games going into the All-Star break. Since then, they have regressed, winning just half of their subsequent 12 games.

Their last two losses, to the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors in the last four days, have virtually eliminated any chance they had of finishing in the top six of the Western Conference. In fact, at this point, the 10th-place Lakers have little chance of even finishing eighth in the conference.

However, there may be a glimmer of hope. Guard Gabe Vincent, who has been out for seemingly forever due to a nagging knee ailment, may actually be nearing a return.

According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, the final step in his return process will be regaining his conditioning.

Vincent’s return cannot come too soon. Los Angeles seriously lacks defensive resistance on the perimeter, and he is known for providing exactly that, especially last season when he helped the Miami Heat reach the NBA Finals.

Anthony Davis will not return to Lakers vs. Warriors game

The Lakers lost one of their superstars early in Saturday’s game versus the Warriors.

These days, it seems like every game is critical for the Los Angeles Lakers —  because every game is critical. On Saturday, they hosted the Golden State Warriors, a team that was one game behind them in the standings and one spot behind them in 10th place in the Western Conference.

The Lakers were competitive through the first half and the early minutes of the third quarter. Unfortunately, they will have to continue to go to war with Stephen Curry and company without one of their superstars.

Early in the contest, Anthony Davis was poked in the eye and had to head to the locker room. He will miss the rest of the game.

In 12 minutes, Davis scored eight points while also contributing four rebounds, two assists, one steal and one blocked shot.

Rui Hachimura: Lakers vs. Warriors will be almost a playoff game

Rui Hachimura is one Lakers player who at least verbally acknowledges the importance of Saturday’s game versus the Warriors.

The Los Angeles Lakers have been stuck in the lower bracket of the Western Conference play-in tournament picture for quite some time. They’re running out of time to move up in the standards, and in fact, their time to do so may have already passed.

With a 36-31 record, they’re two games behind the eighth-place Dallas Mavericks and three games behind the seventh-place Phoenix Suns. Los Angeles is also only one game ahead of the Golden State Warriors, who are in 10th place in the West.

The Warriors also happen to be the team L.A. will face on Saturday, making it yet another critical contest for LeBron James and crew.

Forward Rui Hachimura said the contest will be “almost a playoff game.”

Via ESPN:

“It’s going to be a big game, it’s almost a playoff game,” Hachimura said after Lakers practice Friday. “We played them so many times I feel like — the preseason, the playoffs and regular-season games, all that. So, we know each other well.”

“… Who wants it more?” Hachimura said. “We got to show the emotion and try to get this one tomorrow.”

Of course, at least one Lakers player has said similar things before some other critical games recently. The team was showing some definite signs of life during the first half of February, but since the All-Star break, it has gone just 6-5.

LeBron James congratulates Aaron Donald on his NFL retirement

Aaron Donald is retiring from the Rams, and LeBron James took to social media to praise his accomplishments.

On Friday, Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald announced his retirement from the NFL after 10 amazing seasons.

He was the rare interior defensive lineman who was an explosive pass rusher — he totaled 111 sacks for his career and made the Pro Bowl each season he played in the league. Of course, he helped the Rams win the Super Bowl championship during the 2021 season.

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is pretty well-known as a huge football fan, and he was a pretty good player on the gridiron in his own right during his high school days. He took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to pay his respects to Donald.

This isn’t the first time James has complimented the future Pro Football Hall of Famer. Donald attended a game between the Lakers and Utah Jazz two years ago, and James had plenty of glowing things to say about him.

Via Lakers Nation:

“He’s the greatest defensive player I’ve ever seen play the sport. I say him and Lawrence Taylor, but I didn’t get an opportunity to see Lawrence Taylor play. So (Donald) is the greatest defensive player I’ve ever seen,” James said. “Before I started watching Aaron, I always thought it was Ed Reed or (Troy) Polamalu, but Aaron Donald is the greatest I’ve ever seen on that side of the ball.

“But obviously just being here and watching him over the last few years and just seeing how he’s able to dominate a game, not only with one guy on him, but two guys, three guys, you got a running back chipping you sometimes, and he’s still able to get to the quarterback, get to the running back. And obviously in the Super Bowl, those last two plays were spectacular that he made, stopping the third down by getting the tackle on the guy and then the fourth-and-one being able to get into the backfield and make (Joe) Burrow throw an ill-advised pass.”

James has professed his love for his hometown Cleveland Browns, but it hasn’t prevented him from praising NFL stars on other teams.

Dennis Schroder fires back at D’Angelo Russell over recent comments

Former Lakers guard Dennis Schroder wasn’t happy about a recent comment D’Angelo Russell made about Schroder’s relationship with Darvin Ham.

In a recent ESPN article, Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell gave some candid quotes about the evolution of his relationship with head coach Darvin Ham. In particular, he talked about his struggles during last season’s Western Conference finals, which led to him being benched for Game 4.

He was quoted as saying that he couldn’t have a relationship with Ham at the time because Ham had a relationship with guard Dennis Schroder that went back several years.

Schroder left the Lakers in free agency last summer, while Russell received a new contract and has been playing very well for most of the last two months. Meanwhile, Schroder reacted to Russell’s comment about his relationship with Ham, and he didn’t seem happy (h/t Lakers Daily).

The German native was a key part of Ham’s rotation last season, and he was in the starting lineup for 50 of his 66 regular-season games. He joined the Toronto Raptors last summer, and he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in the deal that sent Spencer Dinwiddie to Toronto. Dinwiddie was subsequently released, paving the way for him to join the Lakers.

With Dinwiddie struggling mightily in L.A. and Gabe Vincent, Schroder’s replacement, only appearing in five games this season, many Lakers fans have wished Schroder would’ve stuck around.

Austin Reaves: Lakers must treat every game as a must-win game

Austin Reaves realizes the Lakers need a much greater sense of urgency than what they have shown.

The Los Angeles Lakers were swept in the season series against the Sacramento Kings when they lost, 120-107, to De’Aaron Fox’s crew on Wednesday. In doing so, they blew a golden opportunity to move up in the Western Conference standings and possibly avoid the play-in tournament.

As a result, they are in ninth place in the West with a 36-31 record, two full games behind the eighth-place Dallas Mavericks.

If the Lakers still have a shot at finishing sixth in the conference, it’s a slim one. Guard Austin Reaves, who was their only consistent offensive threat on Wednesday, said from here on out, they need to act as if every game is a must-win contest.

Via Lakers Nation:

“We just got to buckle down and treat every game as a must-win, basically just approach it like that. Put our best foot forward and try to win every game we play.”

All too often this season, the Purple and Gold have come out flat, especially against teams they should’ve beaten, and lost, often by sizable margins. It’s arguably the biggest reason they have a substantially worse record than what many expected at this point.

Reaves, however, wasn’t flat on Wednesday. He scored 28 points and hit seven 3-pointers. It was one of his best performances of the year.

Los Angeles will play its next four games at home, beginning with a matchup on Saturday against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, who are in 10th place in the West. The Warriors are one game behind L.A. in the standings, and a loss to them would drop L.A. into 10th, at least for the moment.

Brian Windhorst on Lakers: I can’t take this team seriously

Brian Windhorst had some harsh words about the Lakers and their inconsistent play this season.

The Los Angeles Lakers had another one of their periodic episodes of anemic energy, effort and intensity on Wednesday when they lost 120-107 to the Sacramento Kings. They were competitive with Sacramento through the first half, but they came out flat in the third quarter and scored just 17 points.

They were swept by Sacramento in the season series. As a result, their best shot at avoiding the play-in tournament and making the playoffs outright may have evaporated.

L.A. has often beaten teams with a better record this season, including some legitimate championship contenders. But all too often, it has come out looking weak against squads it should’ve defeated.

LeBron James and company are now 36-31 and in ninth place in the Western Conference, and they trail the eighth-place Phoenix Suns by 2 1/2 games with 15 games left in their schedule.

It led to Brian Windhorst’s harsh words about the Lakers on ESPN’s “First Take.”

Windhorst cited the fact the Lakers are 29th in defensive rating over their last 15 games. While they’re third in offensive rating during that same span, being very good at one end of the floor and terrible on the other end isn’t exactly a recipe for success.

The way the Lakers are going, as Windhorst pointed out, it’s likely they would face the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs, should they make the playoffs. The Nuggets are another team that simply has their number these days.

At this rate, one cannot expect L.A. to win the play-in tournament, a place it is likely going to end up going to once the regular season ends. It will have to defeat two very good teams, such as the Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks or the Kings, in the play-in tourney to simply reach the playoffs.

The Lakers have a new official sports drink

A sports drink brand that has become extremely popular on social media is now the Lakers’ official sports drink.

For decades, the sports drink Gatorade has been seemingly ubiquitous across the NBA. Many stars, most notably Michael Jordan, have appeared in commercials for the drink, making it perhaps the most well-known product of its kind in the nation.

But there are some emerging competitors coming for Gatorade’s spot. One of them is Prime Hydration, a brand started two years ago by YouTube influencers Logan Paul and KSI.

Prime took off like a viral Instagram video, as children across multiple nations flocked to buy the drink and be seen with it. The brand has a full line of energy drinks and sports drinks in various flavors, and the high caffeine content of its energy drinks has led them to even be banned at some schools.

But the Los Angeles Lakers have caught on to the popularity of Prime Hydration, and they have made the beverage their new official sports drink.

It is just the latest high-profile partnership Prime has recently earned. The company has already garnered sponsorships with the WWE, the UFC and the Los Angeles Dodgers.