Friday night, Russell Westbrook came off the bench for the first time since his rookie season, which Darvin Ham said was a “realignment, not a demotion.” Five minutes into Westbrook’s Sixth Man of the Year campaign, he was limping to the locker room with a hamstring injury.
Westbrook joins a growing list of Lakers who are banged-up heading into the season. Anthony Davis missed his second preseason game with lower-back tightness, but he should play in the opener. Juan Toscano-Anderson also has a back injury.
Back problems should be expected for a team with the league’s sixth-oldest roster, but even the young players are hurting their backs. Troy Brown Jr. has missed the entire preseason and won’t be ready for the opener because of a back injury. He turned 23 in July.
Lonnie Walker IV has an injured ankle, and Dennis Schroder’s finger injury might keep him out for a while.
So that’s six injured players for a team that wasn’t deep to begin with. Backup center Thomas Bryant is coming back from a long-term injury, and presumptive starting center Damian Jones has played fewer than 200 games in a six-year career. In addition, Davis is still playing center begrudgingly.
No wonder Davis thinks the Lakers are “underdogs.”
The first thing they have to prove? That they can stay healthy for a whole season. Or, at the very least, a whole preseason.
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