After Gabe Vincent went on a preseason heater run against the Mavericks, the Lakers fans thought they found the short-term replacement for LeBron James in the starting lineup. However, just three games into the season, the former Heat guard sprained his left ankle and has been sidelined until further notice.
Early in the third quarter of their game against the Kings on Sunday night, Vincent went back to the locker room and was reportedly seen in a walking boot afterwards. He did not return for the game as the Lakers won 127-120. He finished the game with three points, one rebound, and one assist, scoring all his points at the free-throw line.
According to Dan Woike of The Athletic, the X-ray results on Vincent’s left ankle were negative; therefore, there is likely no damage beyond a sprain that may sideline him for a few games.
The Lakers were already missing players worth $115 million of their $195 million payroll before this game. And now, they are without an additional $11.5 million-earning veteran player, Vincent.
Following the game, JJ Redick, the Lakers’ head coach, spoke to the media about this and addressed indirectly how the roster would be affected if Vincent ends up missing a few games. While Redick said he had no information about Vincent’s injury at the time of the press conference, he did make anticipatory statements highlighting the key concern if Vincent missed out on extended time.
“I just thought our guys brought an edge. It wasn’t just Austin leading that; DA was great, Vando, Smart, Gabe before he got hurt, all those guys,” said Redick in an honest assessment of the game.
“Just got some things to work through right now, particularly Gabe, since he’s going to be out, with just ball-handling. I mean, it’s just asking a lot of AR to be the sole ball-handler the whole game, get pressured full court, and have to offensively create. So it’s just something we will need to figure out with our rotation in the short term.”
Gabe Vincent averaged 3.7 points, 2.3 assists, and 1.0 rebounds, while shooting 23.1% from the field and 20% from beyond the arc. In addition to Vincent, the Lakers also had an injury scare with the only other point guard left available on the roster, Marcus Smart.
While Smart left the game due to a thigh contusion, he eventually returned mid-game against the Kings. If Smart also got injured, the Lakers would have a seriously depleted roster on their hands. If not for Vincent’s injury, this would be a fully positive outing for the Lakers, considering that they won without both their superstars, Luka Doncic and LeBron James. However, they now need to figure out how to avoid overburdening Reaves in their absence.
