Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel revealed that superstar big Anthony Davis was re-evaluated by team doctors on Thursday night and will be out for “four weeks.”

Notably — or optically, as to lessen the blow of the news — Vogel referred to Davis' injury as a “calf strain” rather than an Achilles injury (or “Achilles tendonosis”). Last week, prior to the re-aggravation on Sunday when the Lakers played the Denver Nuggets, Davis described how his soreness was in the area above the Achilles.

“He was evaluated tonight, just confirmed the calf strain,” Vogel said to the media following the Lakers' 109-98 loss to the Brooklyn Nets at Staples Center. “He’s gonna be out for four weeks. We want to try to put this fully behind him. … Just to be conservative with it, and make sure it’s fully healed before he’s back.”

Initially, Davis was ruled out for at least 2-3 weeks. For COVID-related reasons, Davis had to wait until the Lakers finished up their road trip through Denver and Minnesota before receiving a first-hand look from team doctors upon returning home.

On Tuesday, Vogel said it was “unlikely” that Davis would return prior to the All-Star break, which begins on March 4 for the Lakers. Now, that prognostication seems all but certain.

According to Bill Oram of the Los Angeles Times, the Lakers clarified that Vogel's estimate is a) not exact and b) may include the “ramp-up”, a noun-ified term the Lakers like to use to describe the process for players to get in game shape.

After Thursday's loss, the Lakers fell to the 22-8 on the season and 5-2 without Davis — who has dealt with a variety of ailments — on the season. However, the Lakers' first six games without Davis came against under .500 teams, and all but one win was tightly-contested. Even without Kevin Durant (hamstring strain), Brooklyn (19-12) posed a different type of challenge, especially once Dennis Schröder was ruled out due to health and safety protocols.

Vogel told reporters he learned of the Schröder news about an hour before tip-off, and shortly after he told the media in his pre-game presser that he was specifically “looking forward to” Schröder's battle with Kyrie Irving on both ends of the court.

At the moment, it's not clear whether the updated timetable for Davis' return will affect how aggressively Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka pokes around the buyout market for frontcourt help. The trio of Marc Gasol, Montrezl Harrell, and Kyle Kuzma adequately held down the fort on Tuesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but were exposed against Brooklyn.