Lakers’ Montrezl Harrell says Solomon Hill’s dive that injured LeBron James wasn’t a basketball play
Solomon Hill #SolomonHill
The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday afternoon, 99-94. But the final result is hardly the first thing on anyone’s mind, both inside and outside of the locker room. LeBron James limped off the court in the second quarter after suffering a sprained ankle and did not return to the game. At this point, it’s still unclear how long he might be out.
One thing that is clear, however, is that the Lakers are unhappy with how it happened. Montrezl Harrell, in particular, thinks the incident that caused LeBron’s injury is something the league should look into. “We don’t feel like it was one of those basketball-type plays,” Harrell said.
In the second quarter, there was a scramble for a loose ball near the sideline. As LeBron scooped the ball off the ground, Hawks forward Solomon Hill dove at the ball but was too late. Hill crashed into LeBron’s leg and rolled up his ankle, which gets pinned and twisted inwards. “He had to go through his leg to get the ball,” Harrell added.
Obviously, it’s impossible to know someone’s intent, but it’s hard to believe that Hill was trying to injure LeBron. Likewise, it doesn’t really seem like something the league needs to investigate either. It was an unfortunate accident, but more mistimed and clumsy than malicious.
An X-Ray on LeBron’s ankle came back negative, which is good news, but the results of an MRI are still to be determined. If LeBron does end up missing any sort of significant amount of time, that would be a huge blow for the Lakers, who are already without Anthony Davis due to a calf injury.
In 415 minutes without either Davis or LeBron this season, the Lakers have a minus-three net rating. That’s just about in line with the Detroit Pistons, who rank No. 23 in the league in that category. In other words, they have enough supporting talent that playing without their stars for an extended period might not be horrifically bad, but it certainly wouldn’t be good either.