As the Los Angeles Lakers continue to navigate the absence of LeBron James and Luka Doncic due to injury, they were dealt another blow amid the second night of a back-to-back against the Portland Trail Blazers. Gabe Vincent, who had been one of the Lakers’ starting guards to begin the season, was ruled out for two to four weeks due to an ankle injury, as per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
Gabe Vincent had moved into the starting lineup for the Lakers on opening night as James was sidelined due to a nerve injury. Vincent suffered the ankle injury during the Lakers’ win against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday. He appeared to roll his ankle early in the third quarter and immediately headed to the locker room upon exiting the game.
Going back to last season, Vincent has earned the trust of Lakers head coach JJ Redick, and he’s also emerged as a leader on the team. He signed with the Lakers as a free agent ahead of the 2023-24 season, but was limited that year to only 11 games that year as he battled a knee injury that ultimately required surgery.
Last year was Vincent’s first healthy season with the Lakers and he became one of the team’s most dependable reserves. He appeared in 72 games, including 11 starts, at a little over 21 minutes per game. He averaged 6.4 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists with splits of 40 percent shooting from the field, 35.3 percent shooting from the three-point line and 71.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Through the Lakers’ first three games of this season, Vincent had been averaging 3.7 points, 1.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
When the Lakers signed Vincent, he was coming off a stint as the starting point guard for the Miami Heat amid their 2023 run to the NBA Finals. Vincent began his career with the Heat, playing four seasons for the team after going undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft.
