Los Angeles Lakers’ Pau Gasol Out Until March with Tear in Planter Fascia
By Josh Hill
The season of turmoil for Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol continues as after surviving the era of being benched, he’s headed right back to the one place he hates the most as Gasol is expected to be out until mid-March with a tear in his planter fascia. Gasol confirmed his injury on Twitter, tweeting that he’s hoping for a speedy recovery and hopes to be back with the Lakers soon.
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
— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) February 6, 2013
I'm hoping to recover asap so I can be back with the team and keep fighting until the end of the season. #GoLakers #AlwaysPositive
— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) February 6, 2013
Gasol just began to see starting minutes once again after being benched for virtually all of December and January. His benching and the turmoil it caused fueled rumors that Gasol was on his way out in Los Angeles and that he would be traded to a team like Chicago or Minnesota before the trade deadline. But the Lakers remained adamant that they wanted to hang onto Gasol and that he’d be useful to them winning another title.
Looks like whoever was courting Gasol ended up the winner in all this, as Gasol won’t be of any use to anyone until at least the first week of March. Gasol said that he felt a pop during the Lakers game against the Nets earlier this week, and knew whatever had happened wasn’t good.
“I was dealing with it, but that play when I tried to jump off of it and try go block the shot (by Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez), just as I took off, I felt a pop in the bottom of my foot on my fascia and I couldn’t get up. I’m worried about it.”
The Lakers are ailing right now as Dwight Howard is also out with shoulder issues. Mike D’Antoni said on Wednesday that the Lakers hope to get both Gasol and Howard back soon, but for the time being are ready to roll with who they have healthy.
“We’ll play with Robert Sacre. We’ll play smaller most of the time. We’ll have Metta [World Peace] back [from a one-game suspension],” D’Antoni said on ESPNLA 710. “So, we still have enough pieces to win games. That’s what we have to do.”
Robert Sacre — be scared NBA teams, be scared.
Los Angeles is 18-18 when Gasol is active and posted a 5-8 record when he was inactive. Currently the Lakers sit in 10th place in the Western Conference and are 3 full games behind the Houston Rockets for the eighth and final spot in Western Conference playoff picture.