Tough break for Juan Toscano-Anderson: The Los Angeles Lakers forward will be reevaluated in approximately two weeks after spraining his right ankle in Wednesday night's loss to the Toronto Raptors, according to the team.
Toscano-Anderson suffered the injury in the fourth quarter when he stepped on the foot of his teammate, Thomas Bryant. He had to be helped off the floor and into the Lakers' locker room.
Juan Toscano-Anderson has a right ankle sprain and will be re-evaluated in 2 weeks, the Lakers have announced.
JTA suffered the injury on this play Wednesday night in Toronto, after stepping on Thomas Bryant's foot.pic.twitter.com/59SudIYrJe
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) December 8, 2022
It's an unfortunate development for JTA, who got the start for the severely shorthanded Lakers — playing without LeBron James (ankle soreness), Anthony Davis (non-COVID illness), and Patrick Beverley (knee soreness) — in Toronto after being largely out of the rotation since early November.
Toscano-Anderson had 3 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists in 16 minutes. For the season, the 29-year-old is averaging 2.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in 10.4 minutes per game. He's only made 18.2% of his three-point attempts, which has surely impacted his playing time.
While the fourth-year pro's on-court contributions have been limited, he's an invaluable culture-setter and respected teammate in the locker room. For instance, here was JTA praising Russell Westbrook amidst the early-season drama surrounding Russ' role.
There’s gonna be a lot of negativity about this tomorrow but this is pretty awesome https://t.co/Gwm3y4p5TK pic.twitter.com/6PMLfdRepY
— Donny McH3nry (@donny_mchenry) October 21, 2022
“It sucks,” Darvin Ham said postgame about seeing JTA go down. “One, he is a good soldier for us. He brings championship credibility from a championship organization in Golden State. You can never have too many of those guys — guys who are going to go out and be selfless whether they get minutes or not get minutes. Just be a pro, keeping themselves ready, keeping themselves functioning properly, thinking properly. You know, all aligned within the spirit of the group. It just sucks to see him get hurt.”
After signing with the Lakers, JTA gave a poignant response when asked about the legacy he wanted to leave in Los Angeles and why he opted to join the purple-and-gold.
“There's a standard in this building. Everybody knows what greatness looks like. And so, I want to come here and be a part of that. I don't want to be a guy who just passed through. I want people to remember me as a part of this organization in the years that I was here. I want fans to remember, ‘JTA — I remember when he played for the Lakers. He gave it his all. He competed. They won a championship.' Whatever the story will be. I just want people to remember me for being me and being a hard worker and a competitor.”
The Lakers have not yet provided an update on LeBron, AD, or Pat Bev's status for Friday vs. the Philadelphia 76ers.
Follow Us
Subscribe