Anthony Davis, Marc Gasol won’t play for Lakers on Friday
Anthony Davis and Marc Gasol will not play for the Lakers on Friday night against the Indiana Pacers at Staples Center, Coach Frank Vogel said before his team practiced Thursday.
Davis remains out recovering from a strained right calf and Gasol is out because he’s in the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
Vogel said Davis will be re-evaluated Friday night by the team’s doctors and that “we’ll have an update for you guys at that point.”
Vogel said he didn’t have a timeline on when there would be a return for Gasol, who missed the last two games before the All-Star break.
Since Davis went down with his injury on Feb. 2 at Denver, the Lakers are 3-6.
without their All-Star forward.
Vogel said Davis was at practice Thursday, but was not going to participate.
“He’ll be here, present,” Vogel said via videoconference. “He’ll be here. Pretty sure he’s here. He lifted this morning, but he will not be in practice today.”
Former Lakers standout Michael Cooper, who also coached the Sparks at at USC, is among the 14 finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2021 class.
Olympic hopefuls
LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell were announced as being among the 57 finalists selected to USA Basketball Men’s National Team for the Olympics in Tokyo.
Team USA’s first game in Tokyo is scheduled for July 25, three days after the final possible date of the NBA Finals.
James has played in three Olympics for Team USA, winning gold in 2008 and 2012 and a bronze medal in 2004.
If the Lakers were to reach the NBA Finals for the second straight season and played a seven-game series, James, Kuzma and Harrell wouldn’t have much time to rest.
“Well, obviously that plays a big part of it, how I’m feeling, what my family is thinking about after as far as after the season, things of that nature so a lot of variables goes into that,” James said Thursday. “But I’m happy to be a part of the finalists. It’s always an honor. It’s been an honor for years and years and years as you know from being part of Team USA and representing our country, playing the game I love to play so much.”
Kuzma said he would still be “on the first thing smoking over there” to Japan if selected to be on the 12-man roster.
Kuzma was with USA Basketball in 2019, but had to leave because of an ankle injury.
“That’s a blessing. It’s an extreme honor. Hopefully I get to play,” Kuzma said on a videoconference Thursday. “Last year I played a few games with Team USA and was cut short from my injury. So, hopefully I get the opportunity to play in the Olympics and kind of, not redeem myself, but have that full moment with Team USA.”
Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma plays basketball at the highest level. His younger brother, Andre Smith, is hoping to get his shot playing the popular hoops video game in the NBA 2K League.
Etc.
The Lakers announced Thursday that they had signed center Damian Jones to a second 10-day contract.
Jones has appeared in three games with the Lakers, one as a starter. He is averaging 4.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 10.3 minutes per game.
“I want to see more of what he did,” Vogel said. “I thought he played well for us. He plays the role of a lob threat. Don’t try to play outside of that lane offensively.”
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