Lakers news: Anthony Davis status, NBA Cup schedule, Bronny's rough G League debut

Give the Los Angeles Lakers credit. While even in the early season some NBA teams just aren't that worthy of much discussion, the Lakers have a special knack for being interesting at all times.

This week's Lakers news features the status of their MVP candidate after a scary collision, the schedule for the upcoming NBA Cup and the results of Bronny James' G League debut. Let's dive in!

Anthony Davis is cleared to play against Memphis on Wednesday

Lakers fans watched on in horror as Anthony Davis fell to the floor and crawled toward the basket stancheon during Sunday's game against the Raptors. AD challenged Toronto center (and possible Lakers trade target) Jakob Poeltl at the rim, stuffing the seven-footer's dunk attempt with a spectacular block, but he took a nasty poke in the left eye in the process.

AD's injury was to the same eye that he suffered a corneal abrasion in last year, so Lakers fans were justified in wondering how it would effect his status going forward. Davis has not only been L.A.'s best player, he came into Sunday's game with the NBA scoring lead while injecting himself into the early MVP discussion.

Despite experiencing swelling that forced his left eye closed, it was reported by ESPN's Dave McMenamin on Tuesday that Davis would be free to play with no restrictions against the Grizzlies on Wednesday.

Per McMenamin, Davis' eye still didn't look 100%, but the star center said that he wouldn't be wearing protective goggles as a precaution because a) his doctors said he didn't need to, and b) he just doesn't want to.

Davis missed the first Lakers-Grizzlies matchup of the season with a heel bruise, and the team obviously missed him as they fell by 17 in Memphis. This next matchup will take place in L.A., and Lakers fans hope that with AD on the court, this one ends much differently.

Lakers begin their NBA Cup title defense on Friday

It may seem like a long time ago, but the Lakers were the inaugural champions of the NBA Cup (then called the In-Season Tournament) just last year. LeBron James won MVP for his performance over the course of the event, while Anthony Davis dominated the Indiana Pacers in the championship game in Las Vegas with 41 points and 20 rebounds.

The new event was a big hit for the league, and this year promises to be even bigger and better now that fans have gotten a taste for high stakes NBA action in November and December. The Lakers were a perfect 4-0 in pool play last year before beating the Suns, Pelicans and Pacers to win the title, but they'll have a much more difficult time this season thanks to now being in a much stronger group.

Whereas last year L.A. had the luxury of facing three eventual lottery teams in the Jazz, Blazers and Grizzlies (plus the Suns), this year's pool play is a real gauntlet, with the Thunder and Spurs replacing the Blazers and Grizzlies.

The Lakers will travel to San Antonio to open NBA Cup play on Friday. Here's their entire pool play schedule:

If the Lakers are able to win their group or receive a Wild Card, they'll play their quarterfinal game on either December 10 or December 11.

Bronny James had a rough G League debut

Bronny James hasn't yet been able to make a meaningful contribution to the Lakers since being selected with the 55th pick in this summer's NBA Draft. He's only played a grand total of 16 minutes over five games while scoring just four points, but with the G League season beginning this past week, he'll finally get a chance to get real minutes against good competition.

Bronny made his G League debut with the South Bay Lakers on Friday, and unfortunately, things did not go well. Predictably, the internet had a field day with his lackluster performance.

Bronny's been put in an impossible position as the son of one of the greatest players in NBA history. Like most second-round picks, he's not yet ready for prime time, but the Lakers hope that by shuttling him back and forth between the G League and the NBA roster, he'll be able to develop into a rotation player in time.

Bronny returned from the G League to play two scoreless minutes against the Raptors on Sunday, but with the way the schedule is set up, he'll be spending more time in South Bay soon. The Lakers have stated that he'll only be playing home games for South Bay, meaning his next G League appearance should take place on Sunday. Four of South Bay's next six games are at home, including three in a row during Thanksgiving week. Hopefully for Bronny's sake he can put up a better performance in the games to come.