The Lakers believe Xavier Henry ruptured his left Achilles on Monday during a three-on-three drill. He will have an MRI this afternoon.
(Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze)
It seems hard to imagine given how full the Lakers’ training room has already become. But the Lakers just took another significant turn with their injury-ravaged roster.
Lakers forward Xavier Henry will receive an MRI on Monday after the team feared he ruptured his left Achilles tendon during a three-on-three-on-three drill during this morning’s practice. That means Henry will likely stay sidelined for the rest of the 2014-15 season.
“Knowing the kid I know him and how hard he worked, obviously we’re all very hurt for Xavier,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said. “We know he worked his butt off to get back. It’s a down day for us.”
The incident prompted the Lakers to end practice immediately.
“He made a move like most guys do when they mess up their Achilles,” Scott said. “No one hit them or anything like that when they went down. It pretty much said to us that he heard a pop. We helped him in the locker room.”
That’s a similar feeling Kobe Bryant described happening when he tore his left Achilles tendon on April 2013. The injury sidelined Bryant for eight months before playing in only six games before injuring his left knee in what ultimate kept him out for the rest of the 2013-14 season.
Henry’s absence is hardly as significant as Bryant’s, obviously. Henry re-signed with the Lakers to a one-year deal this offseason worth around $1 million after averaging a career-high 10 points per game. Henry also only averaged 2.2 points in 9.6 minutes through nine games after rehabbing this offseason on a surgically repaired right knee and left wrist. Scott had also expressed doubt Henry could restore his athleticism after Henry had Regenokine treatment on his knee in Dusseldorf, Germany. That non-invasive procedure involved blood being removed from Henry’s knee and spun in a centrifuge. Doctors then created a serum and inject it back into his knee to fight off proteins and molecules that cause inflammation.
Meanwhile, the Lakers already have season-ending injuries to Steve Nash (back) and Julius Randle (right leg). Lakers forward Nick Young also sat out for six weeks after having surgery on his right thumb, while Ryan Kelly has played in only three games amid overlapping hamstring injuries.
With the Lakers (3-11) entering Wednesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies (2-12) with their worst start in franchise history, can things get any worse?
“I try not to because it might rear its ugly head and show me whats next,” Scott said, laughing. “I’ll go home tonight and say a prayer for Xavier and the rest of the guys that we have injured.”
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