Lonnie Walker’s left knee ‘tendinitis’ and return timeline, explained

Lakers guard (or “wing,” as the team seems to consider him) Lonnie Walker IV has shown himself to be a real two-way contributor on the team and another shrewd off-season signing (perhaps only outshone by the incredible value of the Thomas Bryant contract).

However, Walker has run into some injury issues the past few weeks — first missing time with a tailbone contusion, and over the weekend the team announced he is dealing with “left knee tendinitis.”

The team statement said Walker IV will be re-evaluated in two weeks, so we’ll have more information then. But in the meantime, let's take a closer look at the injury and rehabilitation process for that issue:

Of course, we should have more information at that two-week point, and hopefully he can return then (along with Austin Reaves, who is dealing with a hamstring injury). But in the meantime, the Lakers have found themselves playing some of their best ball of the season. If they can continue anywhere close to that pace, getting Lonnie back would be a major boon.

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 and partners with Quantum Performance in which he further combines his movement expertise and fitness training background to rehab & train elite athletes. 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 over 5 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.