In a star-driven league, the last thing fans want to see is for one of their team's best players to go down due to injury. On Thursday night, the hearts of Los Angeles Lakers fans were in their mouths after they witnessed star big man Anthony Davis, who's no stranger to being on the mend, go down with appeared to be a gnarly-looking injury.

The Lakers star, after a magnificent defensive play on Coby White, swatting the Bulls guard's shot, accidentally rolled his ankle as his momentum carried him towards the out of bounds area. Davis' lower left leg appeared to come into contact with White's hand, and that's when he twisted his ankle.

Anthony Davis left the court after about three plays, with the Lakers putting in Rui Hachimura in his place. This drew the ire of Lakers fans; after all, they were all up in arms as to why head coach Darvin Ham needed to wait that long before taking out someone who clearly just sustained a painful knock.

“AD hurt his left ankle, played two possessions unable to walk, and Darvin Ham called a timeout after LeBron’s turnover to take AD out. 🤦🏽‍♂️,” one fan wrote. Wrote another, “I aint gon blame coach Ham for the entire game as the one mostly at fault but he definitely u as culpability, but that non TO at first with AD ankle injury, was hella dumb & nasty by him smh..🤦🏽”

Article Continues Below
More Los Angeles Lakers News
Los Angeles Lakers small forward LeBron James (6) smiles from the bench during the fourth quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center.
Lakers star LeBron James’ post-retirement plans linked to AmazonPreston Byers ·
LeBron James answers a question during an interview session with reporters during the Los Angeles Lakers media day at the UCLA Health Training Center.
Bill Simmons rips Lakers, Buss family with LeBron James bailout takePreston Byers ·
Lamar Odom Kobe Bryant
Lamar Odom praises Kobe Bryant on helping him with his gambling addictionAutumn Hawkins ·
Vlade Divac attends the game between the Sacramento Kings and the LA Clippers at the Intuit Dome.
NBA news: Vlade Divac undergoes surgery after scary motorcycle crashJulian Ojeda ·
Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) reacts during the second half in game five of first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena.
Colin Cowherd hits Luka Doncic with warning after Lakers saleLorenzo J Reyna ·
Lakers rumors: How new owner will be 'valuable resource' for LeBron James
Lakers rumors: How new owner will be ‘valuable resource’ for LeBron JamesJulian Ojeda ·

Nonetheless, it's good news for the Lakers that the apparent ankle injury Anthony Davis suffered did not keep him out for long. He started the fourth quarter with the Purple and Gold down by 12, playing for the first 11 minutes of it before Darvin Ham finally waved the white flag in the blowout loss.

However, some fans, despite being impressed by Davis' determination, are worried about his well-being after he gutted out an injury in a regular season game in late December.

“I appreciate AD gutting out a sprained ankle, but I am worried,” Matthew Peralta of Lakers Nation wrote.

The Lakers will be playing the Minnesota Timberwolves on the second night of a back-to-back on Friday, and it might be safe to assume that Anthony Davis won't be playing in that one to rest his ankle.