NBA

Larry Nance on Schedule To Return as Starter Monday

Lakers coach Luke Walton shared that he expects Larry Nance Jr. back from injury on Monday and sees no reason not the start the forward

After breaking a bone in his left hand, Los Angeles Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr. underwent surgery on Nov. 3rd with an expected recovery timetable of four to six weeks.

Three weeks and one day later, he went through a full contact practice with his hand wrapped and his return imminent. If Nance gets through Sunday's practice without incident, the team expect the forward back available to play on Monday against the LA Clippers. That would still beat the four-week minimum recorvery time table initially outlined.

"I was pulling and begging for 2 and a half weeks, but these guys pulled me back a little bit," Nance said following Saturday's practice in El Segundo. "And I'm thankful they did because I feel great today."

Nance went through a complete practice without incident.

"I felt great," the forward continued. "I did everything with full contact. It was probably one of our better, longest, hardest practices of the year. I felt great, did every drill, competed in every minute of it."

Nance said he felt deflections, blocks and every other type of impact without any pain or issue. At one point, he even hung on the rim after a dunk a little too long, and the 24-year-old made a mental note at that point not to go out of his way to test his hand. While he'll continue to wear a wrap as a "mental" safety blanket, Nance feels confident that his hand is healed. 

"It's great," Nance said. "There's nothing that's going to happen to it now."

The fast healing forward could potentially have made an early comeback, but Lakers coach Luke Walton and his training staff tried to ease the eager Ohio native back.

"I want to ease him back into it, which is what we did by keeping him out and letting him practice these days," Walton said about Nance on Saturday. "But if he's good to go and cleared and ready, I don't see any reason to not put him back in the starting lineup."

Nance's injury forced a lineup shuffle, and Lakers rookie Kyle Kuzma got the starting nod in the interim. The rookie forward quickly acclimated to his new role. Including the game where Nance injured his hand, Kuzma is averaging 18.4 points and 7.1 rebounds in 35.0 minutes per game.

In addition to Kuzma's dramatic elevation, backup forward Julius Randle also found his rhythm in a role that seemed more defined and slightly less competitive with one less forward in the rotation.

With Walton seemingly giving Nance the nod to return as a starter, the team will likely go back to a system of Kuzma coming in for Nance, with Randle playing on the second unit as a power forward and small-ball center. Kuzma will likley have to slide back into the small forward role more often, again. At the end of games, Walton will choose between Kuzma, Randle and Nance on a gut feeling with none of the three guaranteed closing minutes.

"I thought, offensively, we looked awesome," Nance assessed the team during his time on the sidelines. "I think I'll help on the rebounding end a little bit and get our defense back to where it once was, but overall, I thought we looked really good."

Walton also echoed Nance's thoughts on rebounding, and the return should improve the team's defense. Nance is widely considered one of the best defenders on the team. In terms f being ready to return, the former Wyoming Cowboy admitted that getting into NBA game shape may take one or two games, but he had been doing his part to stay atop the team's rankings when it came to conditioning.

"I've almost been working harder injured than I was playing, making sure I stay in shape: treadmill work, weight room work, just whatever I could to make sure that if this first game back (Walton) needed to throw me back for 48 (minutes), he could do that, but that's Luke (Walton)'s call at the end of the day," Nance said.

Sports

Get today's sports news out of Los Angeles. Here's the latest on the Dodgers, Lakers, Angels, Kings, Galaxy, LAFC, USC, UCLA and more LA teams.

Weekend races called off at Santa Anita Park with spring storm in the forecast

Rays' Wander Franco placed on leave through June 1 as sexual abuse probe continues

He added, "Kuzma's been playing awesome. Like I said, that's Luke (Walton)'s decision."

Seemingly, Walton's has decided: he expects Nance to return on Monday, as a starter.

Contact Us