Anthony Davis was back on the court prior to the Grizzlies game. How close is he to returning?

Los Angeles Lakers big Anthony Davis has missed roughly three weeks after suffering a sprain in the medial collateral ligament (MCL) of his left knee vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves, with his four week official re-evaluation pending until next week (four weeks post-injury, as announced by the team during their initial medical release).

However, during the lead up to the Lakers game vs. the Memphis Grizzlies, we got our first public sighting of Davis in an activity setting, with him jumping rope and going through basic shooting drills with a brace on his left knee.

In the following video, I detailed what this new footage tells us about Davis’ recovery, and how close to (or far from) returning to the court he might be:

Keep these points in mind as we’re very likely to get more footage of Davis’ activities in the coming days and week prior to an official statement from the club. The hope is that he will continue to progress and respond well to activities and get cleared for a full return next week.

The Lakers can certainly use Davis, and he should fit in quite well with their new, full embracing of small-ball. And, mercifully, Davis’ reintroduction may also mean an end to Carmelo Anthony’s minutes at the 5 spot.

Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University, and runs his own in-person and online sports medicine and performance business, 3CB Performance, in West LA and Valencia, CA in which he further combines his movement expertise and fitness training. He also works at a hospital — giving him experience with patients in the immediate healthcare setting and neurological patients (post stroke, post brain injury) — and has been practicing for 4 years. Brar is additionally training at UCLA’s mindful awareness research center (MARC), has a background in youth basketball coaching and analyzes the Lakers from a medical and skills perspective for Silver Screen and Roll and on his own YouTube Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @3cbPerformance.