The Los Angeles Lakers are back in action on Wednesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies after getting two days off after their last contest. The Lakers defeated the Toronto Raptors in convincing fashion on Sunday, despite superstar Anthony Davis missing the last 17 minutes of action with an eye injury.
Davis was poked in the eye by Raptors center Jakob Poeltl at the five-minute mark of the third quarter and was unable to return to action. Jaxson Hayes performed admirably in his place, having perhaps one of his best stretches as a member of the Lakers to help the Lakers secure the blowout victory. But the Lakers still don’t want Davis missing any time.
It appears that Davis is back in the lineup for Wednesday’s primetime bout against the Grizzlies. And despite having an eye injury, Davis swiftly shut down talks of wearing goggles.
“No,” Davis said emphatically when he was asked if it was a possibility.
He elaborated on why, saying that he feels he shouldn’t unless it’s absolutely necessary for his health and safety.
“Because I don’t want to,” Davis said. “I wore goggles for three years when I was younger. Just don’t want to, to be honest. Obviously, the doctor said I don’t have to, but if it gets to a point where the doctor orders me to, (I will). I think Amar’e (Stoudemire) had to because of a risk of being blind if he gets hit in the eye or something like that, but that’s not the case for me. If it gets to that point where my eye doctor tells me that I need to wear them, then of course I will. But I’ve been cleared to go out and play without them.”
While Davis wearing the goggles on national television would give Lakers fans a throwback to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s heyday, it seems he is adamant on not wearing them. And the reason of not wanting to is absolutely enough if it’s not medically necessary.
If Davis goes out there on Wednesday and struggles with the eye injury, though, it would be intriguing to see if he makes a change mid-game.
Anthony Davis had trouble seeing
After the game, head coach JJ Redick said Anthony Davis had trouble seeing after the injury but had no further updates.
“I just know that he got poked in it. He having he was having trouble seeing. Obviously, take a trauma to the eye and takes a little bit of time to sort of get your clear vision back. But other than that, no update,” Redick said.
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