Xavier Henry has been fighting for months to return from a bone bruise suffered in December that has caused him to miss the last 27 games for the Lakers.
Coach D’Antoni has recently indicated that Henry was close to returning, and now Henry has taken another step towards his Lakers return. The Lakers announced that Henry has been assigned to the team’s D-League affiliate, the D-Fenders, and will play tonight:
.@XavierHenry, who has missed the last 27 games due to a right knee injury, has been assigned to @DFenders. He will play tonight vs. Texas.
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 27, 2014
Henry was enjoying a career year for the Lakers before suffering his injury. He was averaging 10 points and three rebounds, in addition to taking over point guard duties when injuries robbed the Lakers of Steve Nash, Steve Blake, and Jordan Farmar.
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It will definitely be a welcome sight to see Henry back on the floor, even if it is for the D-League. This will allow Henry to work himself back into game shape, and get more comfortable being back on the court in general.
Once Henry is brought back to the Lakers, he will be the fifth player to be called up from the D-League by the team, joining Ryan Kelly, Shawne Williams, Manny Harris, and Kendall Marshall.
View the press release from the D-Fenders below:
EL SEGUNDO – The Los Angeles Lakers have assigned guard Xavier Henry to the Los Angeles D-Fenders, it was announced today.
The 6’6” guard was originally selected in the first round (12th selection) of the 2010 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. The Belgian native has appeared in 31 games (5 starts) this season for the Lakers, averaging 10.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 21.8 minutes. A four-year NBA veteran, Henry spent the previous three seasons with the Grizzlies and New Orleans Hornets (Pelicans) and holds career averages of 5.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 164 games (23 starts).
In his lone NBA D-League appearance, Henry tallied 13 points for the Iowa Energy in 2012. This is the second assignment of Henry’s career and the third player to be assigned to the D-Fenders this season. Additionally, this marks the 15th player to be assigned to the D-Fenders in franchise history. Henry is expected to be in uniform tonight when the D-Fenders take on the Texas Legends at 5:00pm PT, at Dr. Pepper Arena, in Frisco, Texas. The game will be broadcast live on the NBA D-League YouTube channel.
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