The injuries continue to pile up for the Los Angeles Lakers to start the 2025-26 season.
Before the Lakers’ season-opening contest against the Golden State Warriors, the franchise discovered that four-time NBA champion LeBron James would be sidelined for three to four weeks with sciatica.
Ahead of Los Angeles’ first road contest (Sunday night vs. the Sacramento Kings), the organization received devastating news surrounding five-time All-Star Luka Doncic’s status for the clash.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Doncic must sit out at least one week to recover from a left finger sprain and lower left leg contusion.
During the third quarter of the Lakers’ Western Conference battle against the Kings, James’ replacement, Gabe Vincent, suffered an unfortunate leg injury and was forced to leave the contest early.
Shortly after Doncic’s premature exit, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin provided the public with a valuable update on the 6-foot-2 guard’s condition.
“Gabe Vincent is in a walking boot in the Lakers locker room,” McMenamin reported. “He said X-rays on his left ankle were negative.”
While Vincent’s X-rays came back negative, it isn’t a good sign that the former Miami Heat guard was in a protective walking boot less than an hour after Los Angeles’ hard-fought 127-120 victory over the Kings.
Vincent is off to a slow start to the year, as his perimeter shooting and inability to create his own offense off the dribble continue to plague him in Los Angeles.
The 29-year-old is averaging 4.0 points per game on 33.3% shooting from the field and 28.6% shooting from three-point range.
Still, losing Vincent for an extended period would be damaging to the Lakers’ depth (guard depth specifically) moving forward.
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