The Los Angeles Lakers will only go as far as Anthony Davis takes them during the 2024-25 season as he’s been by far and away the team’s best player.
Davis is having an MVP-caliber season and has been the anchor for the Lakers on both ends of the floor, so it was concerning when he was forced out of their recent win against the Toronto Raptors with an eye injury.
Davis was poked in the left eye and spent several moments down on the floor in pain before walking back to the locker room. He was eventually ruled out and it was later revealed that he was having trouble seeing out of his eye.
Fortunately, Davis returned to practice on Tuesday and said his eye is fine and plans to suit up against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.
“It’s fine,” Davis said. “I’m doing fine… Nothing happens next, I’ll go about my days like I would any other day. There’s nothing that I need to do. Next step is getting some more sleep and getting ready for tomorrow.”
Davis didn’t know exactly what the diagnosis was but was given the green light to play against Memphis.
“I have no idea. A couple scratches in my eye. As far as like the medical term and everything, I’m not 100% sure but I am cleared to play.”
After suffering another eye injury, the prevailing thought was Davis would start wearing goggles but he emphasized that isn’t in the cards right now. “Because I don’t want to. 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 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.”
It would be more reassuring for the organization and fans if he did more to protect his eyes, but the good news is he won’t be forced to miss any time.
Jaxson Hayes discusses having to step up with Anthony Davis out
When Anthony Davis was out, Jaxson Hayes stepped up in his place and performed admirably in the win against Toronto. Hayes later said he was focused on picking up where Davis left off, especially on the defensive end.
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