The Los Angeles Lakers are off to promising start. With an 8-8 record, the Los Angeles Lakers are currently in 8th place in the Western Conference. People are actually talking that they could make the playoffs. Nobody expected that from them before the season started. But just when everything looks bright and shiny in Los Angeles, here comes the bad news.
Los Angeles Lakers sophomore point guard D'Angelo Russell had a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection on his sore left knee on Wednesday. D'Angelo Russell will miss at least 2-3 weeks, the Los Angeles Lakers said. The procedure was done by Dr. Steve Yoon in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Lakers said D'Angelo Russell will be re-evaluated after one week.
The news is a major blow for the Los Angeles Lakers. D'Angelo Russell has already missed two of the Los Angeles Lakers las three games because of a sore left knee. They didn't expect that D'Angelo Russell's left knee needed the platelet-rich plasma injection. Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton said, however, that he didn't think surgery was needed on D'Angelo Russell's left knee.
Speaking to reporters before the Los Angeles Lakers face his former team the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena, Luke Walton said, "No, not unless somebody else tells me something different."
"I like to keep it pretty positive. If they tell me that they think this is going to help and get him back out there, then I'm going with the idea that in two weeks, he'll be ready to play again."
As for how D'Angelo Russell has been in pain, Luke Walton also said that he's not sure. According to Luke Walton, D'Angelo Russell's injury caught him and his coaching staff by surprise. D'Angelo Russel just started limping and not running well. So they took him out.
"They told me that his knee had been bothering him," Luke Walton added. "I know he played through it; I don't remember the day or for how long, but he was playing through it for a while there and playing good. Obviously, it got worse. But the timeline? I have no idea."
This season, D'Angelo Russell is the Los Angeles Lakers second leading scorer, averaging 16.1 point per game and leads the team in assists with 4.8 assists per game. Veteran Jose Calderon replaced D'Angelo Russell in the starting line up against the Golden State Warriors.