Austin Reaves was having a career year as a Laker, but it’ll be a while before fans see him playing again on the court.
The Lakers guard suffered an injury during the team’s Christmas Day contest against the Rockets and had to exit the game.
After an MRI on Friday, the news got even worse with Reaves being diagnosed with a Grade 2 calf strain. Now, it’ll be four weeks before he is re-evaluated.
What makes the injury even more frustrating is that Reaves has been dealing with a left calf strain for a couple of weeks now. He missed three straight Lakers games because of his calf strain and only played for a game and a half before injuring it again.
The Lakers mentioned wanting to be “cautious” with his initial calf strain, but now they have no choice, as it has worsened and he is set to miss at least a month of action.
This is such a blow not only to the Lakers but also to Reaves.
He is averaging 26.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game. That level of production will be virtually impossible to replace, but now head coach JJ Redick will have to figure out how to keep the Lakers afloat without their starting guard.
Reaves is also in the middle of a contract year and seemed like a shoo-in to earn his first All-Star appearance, but that is now out of the realm of possibility for him.
This injury will also likely make Reaves ineligible for any awards. The NBA requires players to play 65 games to be eligible for awards, and Reaves has already missed six games.
He can only miss 11 more games, and the Lakers have 15 games scheduled over the next four weeks that he’ll be out.
At this point, all that matters is Reaves getting fully healthy. So, regardless of the consequences to his team or any personal achievements, Reaves must sit until he is 100% healthy and has put these calf issues behind him.
Reaves will have support from Luka Dončić and the rest of his teammates during this process, and hopefully, the Lakers will still be playoff contenders when he returns.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
