:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65458010/1180611641.jpg.0.jpg)
When Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis left the team’s preseason loss to the Brooklyn Nets with a sprained thumb on Saturday morning, the original word was that he would receive an MRI when the team returned home on Sunday.
Well, the Lakers are back from China, but their flight was slightly delayed, so the team will be waiting until Monday to confirm exactly the extent of the injury to Davis’ thumb, according to multiple reports:
Because of the flight delay last night that kept the Lakers from getting home until early this morning, Anthony Davis' MRI on his sprained thumb has been pushed back to Monday, according to the Lakers.
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) October 13, 2019
Update: the MRI on Davis’ sprained thumb will come on Monday. Instead of morning shootaround, the team will have a walk through at the arena prior to the home game against GSW, and we’ll get an update when the exam’s results come back. https://t.co/O4BYnV8Cwx
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) October 13, 2019
The good news is that initial testing didn’t show any ligament damage to Davis, and that overall this doesn’t change a whole lot for the him and the Lakers. The team was likely going to play it safe with their center for their Monday night’s preseason game at home against the Golden State Warriors regardless, so if his MRI comes back clean maybe he’ll play, and if it shows any damage the team will likely hold him out, the same as if the test was done on Sunday.
Essentially, this boils down to the reality that which day the Lakers learn the exact diagnosis isn’t going to change the timeline for Davis’ recovery. Our own Dr. Rajpal Brar (aka @3cbPerformance) did a video for Laker Film Room detailing exactly what that timeline is likely to be:
The Lakers want to ensure Davis stays healthy for the long haul, so they aren’t going to risk the health of one of their franchise players for a preseason game, especially given that a) they just returned from China, which is a major timezone shift with corresponding jet lag from the long flight and b) they have two more preseason games this week on Wednesday and Friday before opening up the season the following week.
The Lakers play the Warriors at 7:30 p.m. in Staples Center on Monday night, which means we’ll likely get a full update on Davis of some kind before then.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.