The Los Angeles Lakers broke out of their slump in a big way with a win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night, snapping a three-game losing streak.
Prior to that game, the Lakers lacked any energy and clearly showed they did not care too much about winning some important games. Head coach Frank Vogel has emphasized getting to the playoffs completely healthy, but it seems as though it is coming at the cost of wins.
A lack of continuity has been Los Angeles’ downfall during the 2020-21 season and that has largely been due to players simply being absent. Prior to the game against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, Dennis Schroder was ruled out due to health and safety protocols and it was rumored he would miss at least 10-14 days.
Vogel later confirmed the report before the win over Denver. “So now, I couldn’t say anything last night, but we can say now that it’s 10 to 14 days with him being in the health and safety protocols.”
Vogel did not want to speculate whether or not Schroder had gotten the vaccine, although Schroder essentially confirmed to a German news outlet that he had not. Regardless, Vogels supports him and the players’ choice to receive it or not.
“Well, first I can’t comment on whether he had gotten it (COVID-19 vaccine) or not gotten it,” Vogel said. “What his opinion on it is not for me to comment on. We support all of our players’ right to make a decision on their own bodies. It’s as simple as that. It’s just one of those things that everybody has a different viewpoint on it in terms of how they want to manage their own personal health and we support our players with whatever they decide.”
The timeline of Schroder’s absence coupled with Vogel’s answer about the vaccine makes it likely that Schroder contracted coronavirus (COVID-19). The point guard will likely be unable to suit up until the playoffs, which puts the Lakers in an even more precarious position.
Lakers discussed positives and negatives of COVID vaccine
There seemed to be some hesitancy from players regarding the COVID vaccine and Vogel admitted that he and the team spent time to discuss the pros and cons of receiving it.
“Yeah, there was discussions,” Vogel said. “I actually think we talked about it, we had a meeting about it in a Zoom early in the season before the vaccine was available and then right before, I forget what point it was, but I want to say days before it became available on the 15th to us on the 16th is the day a lot of us got them. It was just sort of a reminder of all the benefits going into that.
“I got the vaccine on the 16th. If I test positive right now, that doesn’t matter. I’m not fully vaccinated until the [New Orleans] Pelicans game or something like that after my second shot, so we’re not even in that window so I don’t think anyone should question that, but that’s about the timeline for where we were at in terms of when we presented this stuff to the guys.”
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Los Angeles Lakers(96) - Minnesota Timberwolves(103)
