The Los Angeles Lakers have seen a whole lot of players miss time due to injury this season, and two of their starters are currently on the sidelines. Sunday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies was the third straight in which they were without both Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, and head coach JJ Redick revealed their status for the upcoming road trip in his pregame press conference.
“[Hachimura] won’t play on this road trip,” Redick said. “… He’s going to stay back and try to get some work in. Hopefully, he’s able to get some work in with South Bay potentially. That hasn’t been decided, but yeah, he’ll stay back. Him and AR both.”
The Lakers take on the New Orleans Pelicans and the San Antonio Spurs on Jan. 6 and 7, respectively. Reaves’ absence was expected, but not Hachimura’s.
Hachimura last featured for the Lakers in the 125-101 win over the Sacramento Kings on Dec. 28, 2025. The following day, Redick revealed the forward hadn’t practiced as he was banged up.
It wasn’t deemed to be a serious issue, but Hachimura, who is averaging 12.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game in 2025-26, was then ruled out for the Lakers’ clash with the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday with right calf soreness.
In the lead-up to that Pistons game, Redick revealed that the target was to have Hachimura back early next week. So, there was hope that he could potentially play both games of this road trip, but he won’t be available for either.
Hachimura, who was listed as out with a right calf strain against the Grizzlies, might be practicing with the South Bay Lakers, the G League affiliate, instead. The 27-year-old had played 25 of the Lakers’ first 26 games this season, but has been struggling to stay fit since.
Hachimura missed two games right before Christmas with right groin soreness. He is now set to be out for at least five games with this calf problem.
While Hachimura’s missing time is a blow, Reaves’ continued absence is a far bigger issue. The guard had missed three games in mid-December with a mild left calf strain and went down again not long after he came back.
Reaves exited the Lakers’ Christmas Day game against the Houston Rockets with a calf injury. A day later, the 27-year-old was diagnosed with a grade two left gastrocnemius strain.
It was stated at the time that Reaves would be reevaluated in four weeks, so he isn’t coming back anytime soon. He has missed four straight games as of now and will, unfortunately, miss quite a few more.
Once this road trip ends, Reaves will have missed 12 games this season. Players have to feature in at least 65 games to be eligible for end-of-season honors, and all signs point to him failing to accomplish that.
That’s a real shame, as Reaves is averaging 26.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game in 2025-26. Those numbers are good enough to be in contention for an All-NBA team.
To go with Reaves and Hachimura, the Lakers will also be without rookie Adou Thiero for the road trip. The Lakers announced on New Year’s Eve that Thiero had suffered a right MCL sprain and would be reevaluated in approximately four weeks.
While these three are out, Gabe Vincent might potentially be back. Vincent has missed eight games in a row with a back issue, and Redick was hopeful he would be available for one of the games in this road trip.
The Lakers go into this road trip on the back of consecutive victories against the Grizzlies. They first beat them 128-121 on Friday and then 120-114 on Sunday. Those wins have led to the Lakers improving to 22-11 on the season.
