The Los Angeles Lakers will be without Anthony Davis for an extended period of time after the team announced he’s dealing with a stress injury in his right foot.
Davis had been playing some of the best basketball of his career before getting hurt, so now head coach Darvin Ham must try to adjust without his star.
There’s no realistic way to replace Davis’ production, so Ham and his staff are looking for ways to find a new rotation that’ll work in the meantime.
“Just thinking about how we can recalibrate and get back on the right side of things and try to solidify some sort of lineup,” Ham said before Friday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets. “Not just with AD being out but Russ, Austin, different guys dealing with different issues. So we’ve just been putting our heads together trying to come up with a solid plan to have a more consistent rotation in light on these circumstances and that’s about it.”
Without Davis, the rebounding and overall defense takes a hit and Ham admitted it’s up to him to figure out how to address those areas.
“Definitely you look at the ability to defensive rebound and rim protection, and offensively. There is a big hole left there so just trying to figure out ways we can make up for the loss of production. It may not be the exact same way that he gave it to us, but just trying to be creative and see how we can still get points in the paint and instead of depending on him to get every defensive rebounds, how we can get bodies on bodies and gang rebound and hold teams to one position.
“But that’s the NBA season, it’s a constant puzzle no matter what level you’re on or what space you’re in in terms of your record. Everyone is trying to figure things out. The good teams are trying to sustain that, the average teams are trying to get better and the poor teams are trying to figure it out as well. But at the end of the day, every night is its own entity. You have to go out and compete, people aren’t going to feel sorry for you. We just got to go and figure it out.”
The Lakers are already facing an uphill climb trying to fight back into the playoff picture, but to do it without Davis is near-impossible. Hopefully Ham and his staff can come up with solutions and quickly.
Darvin Ham on how Anthony Davis is handling injury
Davis has had a rough go after the 2020 season when it comes to health, and Ham admitted it’s been tough for the superstar to go through.
“It’s tough for him… In recent years, not being able to be available, it’s tough. Especially with the year he was having, the level he was playing at, it’s just tough for him. He’s trying to lend moral support and be there as a teammate, giving great feedback to the guys, great feedback to the coaches. So he’s still mentally and spiritually involved, he’s not detached from the group. It’s an unfortunate circumstance but one we’ll get through and hopefully get him back as soon as possible.”
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