The Los Angeles Lakers could potentially have a glimmer of good news in arguably the worst stretch of the season in the horizon. Lonzo Ball, who suffered a Grade 3 ankle sprain in mid-January, will be re-evaluated by the Lakers medical staff on Thursday and the team will provide an update on his condition, the team announced after practice on Wednesday.
Ball’s injury came on Jan. 19 against the Houston Rockets. The initial timetable for his injury was 4-to-6 weeks. While recent Grade 3 sprains in the NBA typically take longer to recover, this would be the sixth week since the injury, putting Ball just on the edge of the initial timetable.
Wednesday’s announcement comes less than a week removed from reports that a bone bruise had delayed Ball’s rehab process. While common in Grade 3 sprains, the issue was not known until Ball got further into the rehab process, likely delaying the guard’s return date.
Without Ball, the Lakers have struggled mightily, particularly on the defensive side on the ball. As a result, the team has slowly seen its playoff hopes begin dwindling away with losses to the Pelicans and Grizzlies in the last week being huge blows to the postseason hopes.
Ball’s impending return to the court could provide the team with the much-needed boost to make a playoff push to end the season and potentially save itself from an embarrassing off-season.
