Lakers rookie D'Angelo Russell carried off the court after spraining ankle
The good news, Los Angeles Lakers fans, is that it sounds like D'Angelo Russell is going to be OK.
The bad news, however, is that this happened against the Denver Nuggets:
Yeah, that doesn't look like any fun at all in any way, shape or form. Nope. Not good. And teammates Jordan Clarkson and Tarik Black had to carry Russell off the floor:
D'Angelo Russell being carried back to the locker room by MWP & Tarik Black w/ Gary Vitti close behind. pic.twitter.com/oGYyhgaMeF
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) March 26, 2016
The Lakers are calling the injury a moderate sprain, and X-rays were negative. Naturally, he missed the rest of Friday's loss.
So here's the question: Is there any reason to rush him back if there's any chance of lingering pain or re-injury? The Lakers have 10 games left, and the focus will be on the closing stretch of Kobe Bryant's farewell tour.
If Russell's cleared at 100 percent, that's one thing. But the the last thing the Lakers need is to risk the future as the Kobe Era comes to a close.
Russell is the NBA's fourth-leading scorer among rookies with 13.3 points per game, and he ranks third with 3.5 assists.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
