Lakers Injury Update: Max Christie Is Day-to-Day with Right Ankle Sprain.
The Los Angeles Lakers announced that, after being assessed by team physicians, second-year guard Max Christie is deemed day-to-day with a right ankle injury.
Despite being day-to-day, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham anticipates Christie to be out until at least the All-Star break, which makes sense given that there are just two games left this week.
“Max is doing well.” He’s day-to-day, so I’m simply keeping watch of him. He is moving towards a specific position. “I doubt we’ll see him [before the All-Star break],” Ham said after practice on Monday.
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Christie sustained the injury after rolling his ankle while driving to the basket and was fouled at the end of the first half of Thursday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets.
The 21-year-old was in immediate discomfort as he limped back to the locker room, finally being declared out for the rest of the night. Christie then sat out Friday night’s victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, which was understandable considering the tight turnaround.
Christie had an MRI on Friday and was still being assessed by team physicians at the arena, according to Ham. After being examined, Christie appeared to have avoided significant damage, which is clearly good news for a Lakers team that has been plagued by injuries all season.
The Lakers have already been without Jarred Vanderbilt, Cam Reddish, and Gabe Vincent in recent weeks, so Christie’s absence will be minimal, if not non-existent.
There is never a good moment for injuries, but this isn’t the worst case scenario, as the Lakers get three days off before returning to the floor on Tuesday. They then play two more games before the All-Star break, so Christie should have plenty of time to rest his ankle and return to 100% after the break.
Christie, although just being in his second NBA season, has begun to feel more at ease with the Lakers on both sides of the ball. Christie has averaged 17.2 minutes per game, 5.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.0 assists while shooting 35.6% from three.
While the new signing of Spencer Dinwiddie may reduce Christie’s minutes if both are eligible to play, it is still beneficial to have the latter healthy and ready to offer energy to the Lakers whenever Ham calls his number.
The trade deadline has passed, and Christie is still with the Lakers despite several rumours.
Christie stated that he ignored any rumours during the process since they were beyond his control.
“Yeah, that’s outside of my control,” Christie responded. “I’ve said it many times.”
Simply show up and be professional all year. That is all I can do. Be professional, be on time, and work as hard as I can. As I already stated, the trade rumours are outside my control, thus there is nothing I can do about them, and fretting about them is pointless. So all I have to do is show up and be the greatest version of myself, for this squad, or any team I wind myself on. Right now, it’s the Lakers, so all I have to do is be myself and try to be the greatest player I can.”
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