Medical analysis: Breaking down Anthony Davis’ hip spasms

Anthony Davis has been on a tear in every facet of the game to start the Lakers season and is obviously an integral part of the team’s championship aspirations. Davis’ history with injuries is well chronicled — and in many cases far overblown — but he has yet to deal with any major concerns thus far this season, even while playing a heavy load of minutes due to a combination of factors.

However, that run of form and good health was derailed vs. the Miami Heat when Davis had some discomfort in his left hip area, grabbing at it and moving very gingerly following an awkward spin on the offensive end.

Davis was removed from the game, and all of Lakerdom was holding its breath. He was able to return for the second half but clearly was not himself, eventually ending his night prematurely late in the third quarter.

During the game, there were reports Davis had a “hip spasm”. Following the game and the next day, there were more details, including the mention of his adductor in the injury report. In the following video, I took a closer look at what that means.

Following the game, Davis was pretty upbeat about the situation and confident he would play vs the Rockets. He was listed as questionable by the Lakers ahead of the game.

It’s a good sign that he was able to return to play, but the key will be how the area responds to pre-game activity and then if he’s cleared, how it responds to in-game intensity. For now, we’ll wait and see and as always, I’ll keep you updated on any new developments.

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.