Lakers’ Andre Drummond to miss game against Kings on Friday
Every few seconds during his postgame interview on Zoom, Andre Drummond glanced down at his right big toe, the one missing a toenail, the one for which X-rays came back negative beyond a bruise.
It wasn’t the sort of debut Drummond anticipated in his first start for the Lakers after signing with them as a free agent on Sunday.
The injury happened when Milwaukee center Brook Lopez stepped on Drummond’s foot during the Lakers’ 112-97 loss to the Bucks on Wednesday night at Staples Center, and it’s left his playing status as day to day, although the Lakers said he will not make the trip to Sacramento for a game against the Kings on Friday niight. Teammate Wesley Matthews (sore neck) is listed as questionable.
“Yeah, um, in the first quarter when I came out, I had got stepped — Brook had stepped on my foot, and I didn’t really think anything of it,” Drummond said. “I came back in the second quarter and it was hurting a little bit more. And then after halftime, I finally took my sock off to look and my whole toenail was gone. So, it was just all bad from there. I couldn’t walk or run. So, I just told coach [Frank Vogel] to take me out.”
Drummond played 14 minutes and 20 seconds. He finished with four points, one rebound, two assists, one blocked shot, four fouls and three turnovers.
“As of right now, I’m just going to just ... what do you do for a toe? I don’t know,” Drummond said. “I’m not really sure what to do. I’m just going to talk to the training staff and find out what’s the best thing to do to get back as quick as possible.”
The Lakers will lose a lot of games for a while, easy to say after watching them stumble around without LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Teammate Markieff Morris said he had a broken toenail and that it was debilitating while playing through the pain until it healed.
“I mean, I played the next game, but ... man, that [thing] was like a month and a half before it started feeling better,” Morris said. “Because you don’t realize how much your toe is rubbing against the top of your shoes, or you’re using your toe for power, especially with a guy, with guys that are on their front toes heavy. It’s a terrible thing.”
Drummond last played in an NBA game on Feb. 12 when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who pulled him out of the lineup as they sought a trade partner. The Cavaliers eventually bought out Drummond’s contract after the trade deadline; he cleared waivers and joined the Lakers.
“I don’t know what to say at this point. It’s just unfortunate,” Drummond said. “You know, like I said, it’s unfortunate that it happened in the first game, but there’s not much I could do about it. Just try to find a way to get better and come back ready to play next time.”
Drummond was getting treatment on the toe at halftime, which meant he wasn’t ready to start the third quarter. The Lakers started Montrezl Harrell at center instead.
Drummond checked into the game with 9:29 left in the third quarter, but he left 1:34 later.
The X-ray came back with good news, at least.
“Yeah, I was definitely very happy to see that it was a negative result on the X-ray,” he said. “So, it’s just a day by day, just icing it, taking care of it and making sure I get it wrapped up to seal the missing toenail that’s not there.”
Drummond said he has lost a toenail before.
“But this one was very painful,” Drummond said. “I’m looking — you see me looking down at it because I’m like, I can’t even put shoes on. I have my flip-flops right now. So, it’s very, very painful.”
The Lakers got a glimpse in the first quarter of what life could perhaps be like with Drummond in the lineup and drawing attention in the low post.
They built a 30-24 lead after 12 minutes and were eight-for-13 shooting from three-point range.
“If you saw the first couple minutes of the game that I was out there, you know, just the energy defensively that I brought and it kind of boosted everybody on both ends of the court,” Drummond said. “So again, just unfortunate to have this happen to me in the first game. It kind of was a little deflating for me, but my head is high. I’m going to take it day by day and come back better than ever.”
UP NEXT
AT SACRAMENTO
When: 7 p.m., Friday
On the air: TV: Spectrum SportsNet; Radio: 710, 1330.
Update: The Kings are 7-3 in their last 10 games. De’Aaron Fox leads Sacramento in scoring (24.7), assists (7.2) and steals (1.3). The Kings are sixth in the NBA in scoring (115) and 29th in points allowed (118.5).
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