The Los Angeles Lakers faced several injury issues last season. That’s why the 17-time champions fell down to the 13th seed in the first half of the 2022-23 season. It took them a long time to recover and bounce back. Despite these injury issues to key players, the LA side managed to make the postseason and even reached the conference finals. Albeit, they could not reach the NBA Finals last season. But for the upcoming season, the purple and gold side is among the favorites to win the championship.
The main turning point for the LA side last season was the addition of quality players like D’Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt before the trade deadline. Later, in the offseason, the Lakers retained them both. Moreover, Russell and Vanderbilt are turning out to be essential players on the roster. Jarred Vanderbilt can be effective both in the defense as well as offense. However, on Sunday, Darvin Ham confirmed Vando’s unavailability for the rest of the preseason games. But the question remains whether Jarred Vanderbilt will take part in the regular season opener against the Denver Nuggets on October 24.
Darvin Ham Gives Not-So-Promising Update On Jarred Vanderbilt
Moreover, the Lakers coach previously said he would not risk any injury concerns for any key players this season. Hence, earlier, Ham ruled Jarred Vanderbilt out of the game against the Phoneix Suns on Thursday. According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the Lakers will re-evaluate Vando’s health on Friday. Only then can the Lakers come to a conclusion if Jarred Vanderbilt will be available for the regular season opening game on October 24. But the Lakers have had bad luck with injuries in the last few seasons.
Darvin Ham on if Vanderbilt will be available for opening night in Denver: “We’ll see.”
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) October 15, 2023
Vanderbilt will miss Thursday’s preseason game vs. Phoenix and be re-evaluated on Friday.
It’s like just the beginning of another season filled with injury issues for the Lakers. The LA side’s coach mentioned, “We’ll see,” regarding Vanderbilt’s recovery from the heel injury. But Darvin Ham knows how vital Vando would have been for the Lakers to defend against the attack of the Denver Nuggets. Against the Golden State Warriors last season, Jarred Vanderbilt successfully guarded the three-point King Steph Curry. Hence, the Lakers will need Jarred Vanderbilt back in the lineup as soon as possible.
Lakers Will Need Both AD And Vando To Stay Healthy In The New Season
But Jarred Vanderbilt is the most important player in the defense, along with Anthony Davis. Moreover, the front office resigned Vando and D’Lo for multi-year deals. Lately, in the preseason games, both Russell and Vanderbilt have been quite impressive. However, the Lakers have not won many games recently. They have lost three preseason games and won two. The Lakers beat the Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings.
However, lost twice to the Golden State Warriors and once to the Milwaukee Bucks. In the game against the Bucks, Anthony Davis played pretty well but did not end on the winning side. But the LA side’s head coach ruled Jarred Vanderbilt out of the rest of the preseason games. Vando is suffering because of a heel injury. Since he could not play many preseason games, the injury seems to increase even more.
