The Los Angeles Lakers have been below average this season. With the regular season almost over, the Purple and Gold are yet to clinch a playoff spot. In fact, the team’s place in the play-in tournament isn’t even confirmed.
While there are a plethora of reasons the Lakers struggling this season. One of the primary reasons for the team’s abysmal situation is the elongated absence of their superstar Anthony Davis.
When Davis joined the Lakers, he completely changed the power balance in the Western Conference. In fact, with the superstar duo of LeBron James and Davis, the team won the 2020 NBA Championship.
But since then, everything has been going downhill for the franchise. Last season, the Lakers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. To which AD claimed that if he was healthy, the Lakers would have won the series against the Suns.
Now, this season, it has been the same old story for the 17-time NBA champions. Davis has been sidelined for the majority of the season and has contributed to the team playing worse than expectations.
There is finally some good news about AD’s return before the postseason begins. According to NBA insider Dave McMenamin, the star forward could return to action as soon as the first week of April.
Via ESPN:
“If everything continues to progress well in Davis’ rehab, the All-Star big man could be suiting up for games by the first week of April, at the earliest, sources told ESPN. … If Davis can get back, there won’t be much time to ramp things up before the play-in tournament, but if his immediate return to high-level play coming off an MCL sprain in January is any indicator, a ramp up might not be needed.”
This is definitely a piece of good news for Lakers fans. In the absence of the All-Star big man, the team doesn’t look like itself.
Although it is a long shot, if AD returns to the roster and still plays like his usual self, the Lakers might still be in the race to win the 2022 NBA Championship.
