What happened to Anthony Davis? Lakers superstar exits game after devastating eye injury
Lakers superstar Anthony Davis sustained a painful injury during Sunday’s game against the Toronto Raptors. The incident occurred with 5:21 left in the third quarter when Davis blocked Jakob Poeltl’s powerful dunk attempt. In the process, Poeltl’s left arm poked Davis in the eye, sending the nine-time NBA All-Star to the floor, grimacing in pain.
The Lakers’ medical staff quickly rushed to the court to assist Davis, who was forced to leave the game due to the severe blow to his eye area.
Anthony Davis injury update
Anthony Davis headed straight to the locker room and did not return, ending his night early due to a left eye injury, as the Lakers announced during the fourth quarter.
Lakers reporter Dave McMenamin also noted that Davis previously suffered a corneal abrasion in his left eye back in March of this year.
After the game, coach JJ Redick shared that Davis was having difficulty seeing after being hit in the eye.
"I just know that he got poked in it. He having he was having trouble seeing," said Redick. "Obviously, take a trauma to the eye and takes a little bit of time to sort of get your clear vision back. But other than that, no update."
Meanwhile, Davis’ game concluded after logging just under 26 minutes. Before his exit, the one-time NBA champion was delivering another strong performance.
He posted 22 points, four rebounds, three assists, one steal and two blocks, shooting an efficient 6-of-8 from the field, a perfect 2-of-2 from three-point range, and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Fans react to Anthony Davis' eye injury
Lakers fans reacted strongly after Anthony Davis was forced to leave the game due to a painful eye injury, with multiple fans suggesting that the Lakers superstar should consider wearing goggles during games.
"Anthony Davis needs to wear goggles. Picks up too many eye injuries. Once he does it’s wraps for the league," a fan commented.
"Can you tell someone on the training staff to tell him to start wearing goggles?? He always seems to get hit in the eyes," said another.
"I have never seen someone get poked in the eye or hit in the face season after season as much as AD does," another fan wrote.
"First AD and now LeBron! Throw that dirty Poetl raptor player hitting them both on the face," another X user wrote.
Meanwhile, Davis has been dealing with a lingering left foot injury since last season. Despite this issue, the nine-time All-Star has played in nine of the Lakers' 10 games this season, only sitting out against the Memphis Grizzlies on Nov. 6 after aggravating the injury during the game against the Detroit Pistons on Nov. 4.
Lakers fans are now hoping Davis won’t miss significant time due to this latest eye injury. The Lakers are set to face the Memphis Grizzlies again on Wednesday.
Also read: "Never did this with Darvin Ham" - Lakers fans react to Anthony Davis patiently taking advice from JJ Redick mid-game