Anthony Davis thinks his groin re-aggravation should only set him back another two weeks

It was a mistake for Anthony Davis to play in Game 6 on Thursday. From the moment that he stepped out onto the floor, it was clear that he wasn’t anywhere near 100% — he didn’t even look like he was 10%. Fortunately, that mistake isn’t expected to be a costly one for Davis or the Los Angeles Lakers in the long-term.

After Thursday’s game, Davis said that he doesn’t think he’ll be sidelined with his groin strain for much longer, even though he re-aggravated it while playing.

“I’m gonna talk to my trainer, Ish (Jon Ishop), and see what their plan is,” Davis said. “He’ll probably call me tomorrow and we’ll figure that out, but no I don’t (the exact timeline). They said before, when it first happened, that a 10-14 day injury is usually what it is with a Grade 1, so after tonight where I re-aggravated it, I don’t know if it will be another 14 (days) or whatever, but I’ll talk to him tomorrow and try to see what the plan is.”

Players usually take the first few weeks of the offseason to relax, and for the Lakers, the offseason started on Friday. So, even if Davis wasn’t injured, he likely wouldn’t be in the gym getting ready for next season right now.

The significance of Davis’ rough timeline to return to basketball activities is that he’ll have a full offseason — almost four full months — to rest and recover for next year. That time may not lead to Davis having an injury-free 2021-22 campaign, but it should minimize the risk of non-contact injures flaring up like the Achilles tendinosis he dealt with in the middle of this season.

Again, the 2021-22 season is a long time from now, and there are a lot of things that the Lakers will have to sort out before then, but there’s some comfort in knowing that Davis will probably be good to go for the start of training camp. After how the last year went, small victories like that are all we can hope for.

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