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Anthony Davis' back injury has kept him out of the last three games, but it has not stopped the Los Angeles Lakers from having success after winning all three contests.
Davis spoke to the media on Tuesday, which marked the first time he did so since suffering the injury against the New York Knicks on Jan. 7.
During his session, Davis said that he has not done anything with contact yet but that he was “getting closer to being back on the floor,” which is certainly good news. He even quipped that the Lakers may not even need him based on how they have played in his absence, per Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times.
However, head coach Frank Vogel quickly put that talk to bed and did not even try to make any jokes about it.
“We need Anthony Davis,” said Vogel, per Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. “This is L.A. You know everything I say will be quoted out of context. So I was gonna make a joke, but I’m not gonna joke because we definitely need Anthony Davis. But we are undefeated this week without him.”
With Davis' unrestricted free agency looming this coming summer and with the superstar declining to commit to the Lakers long term, it is certainly understandable why Vogel would want to avoid potentially ruffling any feathers, even if he was trying to do so in good fun.
But in all seriousness, Los Angeles absolutely needs Davis if it wants to contend for a championship.
The 26-year-old is averaging 27.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.6 blocks and 1.5 steals over 35.2 minutes per game while shooting 50.4 percent from the floor, 29.7 percent from 3-point range and 85.9 percent from the free-throw line.
