Archive for the 'Injury News' Category

Odom Suffers Contusion

Published
by
Ty Nowell
on October 15, 2009
in Injury News and Lamar Odom
. Closed

Add Lamar Odom to the list of Lakers forwards that are nursing minor injuries as training camp hits the midway point.

Late in the first half Ron Artest and Sacramento’s Jon Brockman got tangled up under the basket, eventually kicking Odom in the shin as they fell to the floor.

Odom would briefly return to action in the second half before retiring to the locker room to get checked out by trainer Gary Vitti. He is officially being listed as day-to-day with a lower right leg contusion.

After the game Odom told Lakers.com’s Mike Trudell that while the shin was sore, he wasn’t overly worried about it.

Walton, Gasol Miss Another Practice

Published
by
Ty Nowell
on October 14, 2009
in Injury News, Luke Walton, Pau Gasol and Practice News
. Closed

Lakers Forwards Pau Gasol and Luke Walton sat out practice for the second day in a row Wednesday due to a slight hamstring strain and minor back pain respectively.

“There’s nothing defining for either one of them right now,” said Head Coach Phil Jackson. “Pau felt a little twinge when he was doing warmup exercises and what not.”

Both will travel with the team to Las Vegas for Thursday night’s matchup with the Sacramento Kings, but Jackson expressed doubt when asked about their ability to play.

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF PHIL JACKSON AFTER TODAY’S PRACTICE

D.J. Mbenga Injury Update

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on October 5, 2009
in DJ Mbenga, Injury News and Training Camp
. Closed

DJ MbengaLast week, Phil Jackson explained that D.J. Mbenga had not been able to participate fully in practice due to an injury, which Lakers spokesman John Black detailed on Monday:

Due to a malalignment of his hips/ hip flexors, the imbalance is causing him pain in his abdominal, groin and hip flexor areas. He continues to work with our training staff to rehabilitate and is expected to make a full recovery at some point in the near future.

***10/6 UPDATE - Phil Jackson said that Mbenga practiced for the first time in five days on Tuesday, and should be fully operational soon.

Odom’s Back Still Sore, But Improving

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on May 19, 2009
in Injury News and Lamar Odom
. Closed

An hour prior to L.A.’s Game 1 tip against Denver, Lamar Odom answered a few questions in the locker room about his sore lower back, which he will not allow to limit him against Denver.

“It’s not the time for that, right?” he said. “No excuses at this time of the year. ”

But make no mistake … It’s sore.

“There’s a little patch of fluid that just kind of lays on the spine, and it’s not going to go anywhere until I finish playing,” explained Odom.

He did acknowledge, however, that his back is feeling better on a daily basis; Odom got a nice boost on Tuesday by lifting weights for the first time since his Game 4 fall in Houston. That, to Odom, was as good a sign as any that he’s progressing.

“(Lifting) helped me get my blood flowing and helped me get some energy,” he explained. “I need the weight room, it helps me stay strong.”

He certainly prefers lifting to the shot that he received prior to Game 5 in the Houston series, which helped limit the inflamation in his back for that game but bothered him in the morning.

“The shot, to me, kind of tricked my body into feeling like it wasn’t hurt,” he said. “But the next day, I was feeling kind of sore. So I’d rather not do it. El natural. That’s what they call me.”

Odom a Game-Time Decision

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on May 12, 2009
in Injury News and Lamar Odom
. Closed

Lakers forward Lamar Odom, who bruised his back after an airborne drive in Sunday’s 99-87 loss at Houston, participated in Tuesday’s shootaround and will be a game-time decision for the 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

What does “game-time decision” mean, you wonder?

Just what it implies, but let’s get more specific: A given player - in this case Odom - will get on the court under the training staff’s supervision and test out his injury prior to the game. The training staff will then discuss the situation with the coaching staff, and collectively that player’s fate is decided. Of course, a player’s personal feelings as to whether or not he can battle through the injury is taken into consideration as well.

Indeed, Odom will go through some drills upon arriving at STAPLES, have a few conversations, and leave it to Phil Jackson to let the media know his status at about 6:15 p.m.

When we know … You’ll know.

If Odom isn’t able to go, look for Andrew Bynum to start.

Odom CT Scan and MRI Update

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on May 11, 2009
in Injury News and Lamar Odom
. Closed

According to Lakers spokesman John Black, results of Lamar Odom’s Monday morning CT scan and MRI are that he has a lower back contusion (bruised back).

His status for Tuesday evening’s Game 5 vs. Houston - which tips off at 7:30 p.m. - is questionable, and his condition will be updated subsequent to Tuesday morning’s shootaround.

Odom bruised his back while falling hard to the floor during an airborne drive in Sunday’s 99-87 loss at Houston, as Rockets forward Shane Battier slid underneath Odom while attempting to draw a charge.

After the game, Odom said that he would not practice on Monday, but that we could “hopefully help the team on Tuesday.”

Sore Odom to be Evaluated on Monday

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on May 10, 2009
in Injury News and Lamar Odom
. Closed

With 6:01 remaining in the third quarter of Sunday’s Game 4 loss to Houston, Lamar Odom fell hard onto his back after Shane Battier stepped under his body during an airborne drive to the hoop to draw a charge.

Odom got up under his own power and walked to the locker room, but was declared out with “back spasms” for the remainder of the game.

After the contest, Odom had this to say: “I won’t be able to practice but hopefully I can help the team on Tuesday.”

On Monday, Odom will have an MRI and CAT scan to determine his status for Tuesday’s Game 5, but for now he’s listed as day-to-day.

Kobe Bryant “Fine,” Will Start

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on May 4, 2009
in Injury News, Kobe Bryant and Luke Walton
. Closed

“He’s OK,” said Phil Jackson on Monday about Kobe Bryant, who missed Sunday’s practice with a sore throat. “He says he’s fine, and we’ll go with that … I really don’t have any concerns.”

Bryant got a workout in early on Monday morning and participated in shootaround, and will start against the Rockets.

Jackson also had positive news regarding Luke Walton’s progress from the partial tear in the deltoid ligament of his left ankle. While the head coach said that Walton remains a game time decision, he acknowledged that his backup small forward did participate in shootaround:

“He’s looking better, we’re hopeful,” he concluded.

L.A.’s Game 1 tip against Houston is at 7:30 p.m.; for a full series preview, CLICK HERE.

Walton “Absolutely” Expected to Play

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on April 30, 2009
in Injury News, Luke Walton, Podcast and Practice News
. Closed

Luke Street ClothesOn his way out of the practice facility, we caught up with Luke Walton to see how his ankle is feeling almost a week after he partially tore the deltoid ligament in his left ankle.

“I’m feeling really good,” he said. “I’m excited with how well my ankle’s responding and how much better it feels from day-to-day*.”
*Listen for yourself with the audio at the bottom of this post.

You did hear the word “absolutely” in there, though a specific date is (as always) not available. Nonetheless, Phil Jackson weighed in on Walton’s situation with this post-practice comment: “He’s happy with (his progress). Luke looks like he’s going to be a player who’s going to play in this next series, for sure.”

It was good ankle news all around in El Segundo, as Trevor Ariza called his a non issue, while even Sun Yue seemed fully recovered from his ankle sprain from a few weeks back.

Meanwhile, the Lakers will take Friday off, and resume practice on Saturday.

 
icon for podpress  Luke Walton Ankle Audio [1:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Luke Walton Injury Update

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on April 27, 2009
in Injury News and Luke Walton
. Closed

After receiving only eight minutes of burn in L.A.’s Game 3 loss at Utah, Luke Walton was critical to L.A.’s success in Game 4, sparking a 20-2 second quarter run with a three-pointer and collecting two key third quarter steals that helped push the Lakers to a 20-point advantage.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, Walton also sprained his ankle in that third quarter, and found out this news on Monday, as stated by L.A.’s PR department:

Lakers forward Luke Walton, who suffered a sprained left ankle in Saturday night’s Game 3 at Utah, had an MRI exam this morning. Results of the test show a partial tear of the deltoid ligament.

Walton will be out indefinitely and his status will be re-evaluated in approximately one week.

What does this mean for the Lakers?

Phil Jackson said that both Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom would see time on the wing in Walton’s place, which signifies that Sasha Vujacic in particular will see more time at guard. Furthermore, Andrew Bynum may be needed to play more than the 14 combined minutes he played in games three and four, and would probably start if Utah doesn’t play center Mehmet Okur, who was ineffective in 13 minutes in L.A.’s 108-94 Game 4 win.

If Walton’s is the bad news for L.A., the good is that starting small forward Trevor Ariza - who also tweaked his ankle on Saturday - is expected to play. Ariza told Jackson he was fine while taking shots alongside teammates at Monday’s shootaround, and is listed as “probable.”