The last thing that the Los Angeles Lakers would need right now is see another youngster fall to injury. Luckily, D'Angelo Russell escaped with a minor one after falling in the first quarter in their preseason game against Utah Jazz last Tuesday.
Russell was at an unfortunate place at the wrong time when he collided with Utah's Rudy Gobert with 7:42 left in the first quarter at Manoa Stan Sheriff Center located at the University of Hawaii.
Russell lay sprawled on the floor for several minutes, while most are concerned his status. The number two pick was eventually taken to the locker room, and it was learned that he had suffered a bruised glute.
He could have returned but as a precautionary measure, the Lakers decided to sit him out instead.
"I knew it wasn't that serious when I fell," Russell said via ESPN. "I was talking to [Lakers trainer Gary Vitti] while I was on the ground. I just couldn't really move. After it kind of loosened up a little bit, I was able to move," he added.
Russell was scheduled to sit out practice Wednesday as the Lakers monitor his condition.
Among the Lakers officials who were pretty much concerned was head coach Byron Scott.
"He took a pretty good hard fall. I was just hoping there wasn't anything broken," coach Byron Scott said, adding "The way he came down, I could tell he was going to be sore. I knew it was going to be his hip. Now, it's one of those things: It just depends on how fast the kid can heal."
Apparently, the Lakers are hoping to come into the 2015–16 NBA season with a healthy lineup as they try to recover from two sorry seasons.
The Lakers had their share of injury woes last season, losing Julius Randle in the 2014–15 NBA season opener, followed by Kobe Bryant back in January.
With lessons learned, the Lakers are hoping this season will be better and it starts by properly monitoring the players as far as injuries are concerned. Check out the video of the incident below.
