Dave McMenamin, ESPN Staff Writer
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Los Angeles Lakers star big man Anthony Davis was ruled out of Wednesday night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies because of a left heel contusion.
Davis tested out the injury during a pregame workout and determined he was unable to play.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said Davis has not undergone imaging on the foot after aggravating it late in the team’s loss to the Detroit Pistons on Monday.
“From my understanding, it is something that off and on has bothered him a little bit throughout the summer and so far this season,” Redick said. “We’ll obviously miss him a lot.”
L.A., 1-3 on its current road trip, returns home to host the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday. Redick said Davis could be available for that game.
“I think for all of us, we want to take a long-term view on all of our players’ health for an 82-game season,” Redick said. “I just spoke with him before coming and talking to you guys. He was very positive about how it felt, but we recognize we got a long flight back to L.A., we got to turn around and do it again on Friday. So hopefully the extra 48 hours of rest will be good.”
Aside from missing Davis’ league-leading 32.6 points per game, the Lakers also were down another starter against the Grizzlies as Rui Hachimura was ruled out because of an illness.
Redick said he planned to play backup center Christian Koloko against Memphis. Koloko is a two-way signee who was recently cleared to return by the NBA’s fitness to play panel after being out of action since April 2023 because of a blood clot issue.
“The game was almost taken away from me,” Koloko said after shootaround Wednesday. “I’m just grateful to be here right now. So, I’m just going to embrace every moment I have on a basketball court now. And you never know what can happen. But yeah, I’m just happy to be here. And I know for sure that first game is going to be a special one for sure.”