The Los Angeles Lakers will be without center Jaxson Hayes for at least the next few games.
The team said Hayes suffered a sprained left ankle in practice on Tuesday and will miss Wednesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Hayes will be evaluated again in 1-2 weeks.
The injury is the latest the Lakers are dealing with among their centers. Christian Wood is still recovering from offseason knee surgery, and Anthony Davis was poked in the eye Sunday in their 121-103 win over the Toronto Raptors. , although it was the same eye that he sustained corneal abrasion twice last season.
Hayes averaged 6.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game this season, his second with the Lakers after spending his first four seasons in the league with the New Orleans Pelicans. The 24-year-old had a season-high 12 points and six rebounds in Sunday’s win over the Raptors as well. Hayes stepped in to help replace Davis down the stretch of that contest after he left with his eye injury.
Wood won’t be back for the Lakers anytime soon either. Wood underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee in September to repair a knee problem that bothered him late last season. Wood began experiencing pain in his knee in recent days, and will now be out for at least another month.
Outside of Davis, the only other center on the Lakers’ roster is two-way player Christian Koloko – who was cleared to play by the league after missing all of last season with a blood clotting problem. He appeared in two games for the Lakers this season and one with their G League affiliate.
The Lakers enter Wednesday night’s game with a 6-4 record, and they are coming off back-to-back wins. They will open the NBA Cup, which officially began across the league on Tuesday, on Friday against the San Antonio Spurs.
