“I’m not worried about who’s saying what or who thinks this about me because none of them have stepped on the floor and played,” said Anthony Davis back in 2022, in response to the fans who criticized him for being ‘injury-prone.’ Since he arrived at the Lakers, though, his injuries have become a source of infamy. They’ve limited his appearances and not given him much of a chance to prove anything. Fortunately, all seemed to be fine during this regular season, as the hoopster continued leading the offensive front alongside LeBron James. Unfortunately, given AD’s injury history, it wasn’t wrong for the community to predict a disaster. Now, it is here.

Amid the ongoing Lakers-Raptors matchup, Anthony Davis has developed an injury. Jovan Buha revealed that Jakob Poeltl poked AD in the eye during a block, causing his return to the locker room. Before leaving the court, however, fans could see AD writhing in pain.

During the 4 quarter, the Lakers were trailing, 73-70. Davon Mitchell had the ball in his possession. As he failed to make a layup, the ball got into RJ Barrett’s possession, who passed it to Jakob Poetl. Being close to the rim, he rushed while Anthony Davis attempted to block him. The end result was a collision that neither side would have intentionally wanted.

The hit by Poeltl immediately sent Davis down on the ground. He withered in pain, placing his hand over the area of impact. A few of his teammates came up to check on him. Eventually, he was helped off the court. A few minutes later, the LA side announced that AD wouldn’t be returning for the game. The only silver lining was that his exit came in the middle of the 4th quarter, and by then he had already made 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. His contribution went a long way in securing the 123-103 win for the Lakers.

“I just know that he got poked in it. He was having trouble seeing, you know, obviously. Taking a little trauma to the eye, it takes a little bit of time to sort of get to your…. clear vision back. But, other than that, no update,” JJ Redick said about the AD’s setback.

As of now, no new updates have been provided on the exact injury that Anthony Davis has suffered. However, the fact that Jakob Poeltl accidentally hit AD’s left eye is not good news. After all, he sustained a corneal abrasion in March in the same way. Back then, he hadn’t returned to the court in that game. But he did return for the next game. Despite the seriousness of the injury, the Lakers have to prepare for the possibility of playing a few games without their second-in-command. This brings up the question: What’s next?

LeBron James assures us fans that he can undertake Anthony Davis’ responsibility: “Not hard for me to be able to tap into that”

For 5 years, LeBron James and Anthony Davis have led the Los Angeles Lakers together. However, there’ve been moments when the all-time scorer has had to go about managing things by himself. One example of this would be the 2020-21 season when AD made a total of only 36 appearances. So, having had a fair share of experience, the 39-year-old is prepared to pick up the slack if needed.

“AD is a big-time rebounder, so I had to pick up some of the slack with the defensive rebounding,” LeBron said. “And then with AD out, I’m taking a lot of eyes (that would be on) AD, because he’s putting so much pressure on defenses this season. I take some of that responsibility as well. Something I’ve been able to do for quite a while, so it’s not hard for me to be able to tap into that, even though that’s not been my role this year so far.”

With an okay 6-4-win record, a key player being out because of injuries is the last thing that JJ Redick and Co. would’ve wanted. Therefore, any positive update regarding Anthony Davis’s health would be very highly appreciated by the LA community!