Los Angeles Lakers got news Wednesday they were hoping not to hear, forward Pau Gasol has a tear in the plantar fascia of his right foot. Gasol received an MRI when the team traveled to Boston, after injuring his foot in the Lakers wins against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday. Gasol will likely be out four to six weeks with the injury.
"The result of the MRI shows I have a torn fascia of my right foot. Tomorrow I'll fly back to LA to see our team doctors. #AlwaysPositive," Gasol tweeted.
Gasol injured the right foot attempting to block a shot from Brook Lopez. He felt a pop in the bottom of his foot and hit the ground. After one attempt to run up the court, Gasol was subbed out and headed straight for the locker room.
The Lakers were already thin at the center position prior to Gasol getting injured. Backup Jordan Hill is out with season ending hip surgery. The Lakers were able to be granted a disabled players' exception. This will allow them to spend a little more than half of Hill's salary in order to sign a free agent or to absorb a player's contract acquired in a trade.
With the injury to Gasol, the Lakers are hoping this urges Dwight Howard to come back sooner rather than later after missing the last three games with a shoulder injury.
"We'll see what happens. Hopefully, Dwight will be back fairly soon, but you approach it like any other game. Guys got to step up," head coach Mike D'Antoni said on ESPNLA 710 radio.
Kobe Bryant is doing everything he can to urge Howard to play through the pain. Bryant believes that Howard is letting the media coverage get to him and worrying more about being liked than playing basketball.
"We don't have time for Howard's shoulder to heal. We need some urgency," Bryant said in an interview with ESPN.
The Lakers are approaching this season with desperation; much of their team is on the older end of the age scale in the NBA. With Bryant entering his 17th season with the league, he believes the team only has this season to make something happen.
"We don't have three years. We've got this year," Bryant said.
Howard is currently listed as day-to-day and his status is uncertain for the Lakers game against the Boston Celtics Thursday.