After struggling on Wednesday night, Los Angeles Lakers forward Julius Randle sat out Thursday’s game with what was deemed a ‘viral infection.’ Though he was technically dressed, Randle sat on the bench and looked obviously ill.
Now the issue has been made more clear as Randle has been diagnosed with Pneumonia and will be restricted from all activities for the next couple of days according to Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Julius Randle has been diagnosed with pneumonia & will be restricted from all activities for the next 2-3 days. Follow-up exam on Monday.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) January 28, 2017
This is an unfortunate development for Randle, but it does seemingly explain his lethargy on Wednesday night. The Lakers thrive off Randle’s energy and aggression but that was seemingly missing. Thankfully it has been diagnosed and Randle can get some time off to get better.
The Lakers have been dealing with injury issues for seemingly the entire season. From long-term issues like D’Angelo Russell and Larry Nance have had, to the more minor ones like Luol Deng has dealt with, it seems like the Lakers just can’t go any period of time without someone missing some games.
The good news for the Lakers is that they are off until Tuesday when they host the Denver Nuggets. With Randle being re-evaluated on Monday, more about his status for Tuesday’s game will be known then. Hopefully he can get over this illness quickly and make his return to a Lakers team that badly needs to return to full strength.