The Los Angeles just can’t catch a break. They entered the season as the reigning champions and the team to beat, made several moves, and just when they looked poised to go back-to-back; they lost Anthony Davis.
Davis has been sidelined for some time now and it doesn’t seem like he’s nowhere near close to a return after suffering calf and Achilles’ injuries. Obviously, that puts even more weight on LeBron James’ shoulder to lead the team to the playoffs
And then, when LeBron was posting MVP-caliber numbers and the Lakers were in the second spot in the Western Conference, now it seems like The King will be sidelined for multiple weeks after suffering a high right ankle injury yesterday.
Needless to say, that puts Frank Vogel’s team in quite the predicament, but Kyle Kuzma isn’t worried about who’s the guy that has to step up and fill LeBron and Davis’ void:
“I don’t know. I really don’t know at all. I think as a team we just got to step up and we’ll where the roles are,” Kuzma said in a Zoom press conference after his team’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
Then again, one would expect that Kuzma would be the player who benefits the most from LeBron and Davis’ absences. He’s been the Lakers’ third scoring option for a couple of seasons now and he’s stepped up big time when one of those two players hasn’t been available.
Now, whether Kuzma and the rest of the Lakers will be able to keep their feet on the gas and stay in the playoff picture is yet to be seen, as the West is stacked with competitive teams and the standings are quite close, so we could even witness yet another case of the reigning champion missing the postseason.
