CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt has been diagnosed with a right mid-foot sprain and will be re-evaluated in approximately 3-4 weeks, the team announced ahead of Monday’s road game against the Charlotte Hornets.
Coach Darvin Ham said pregame that the injury diagnosis “definitely” provided hope for Vanderbilt but added that the team doesn’t want to get ahead of itself.
“You just don’t want to get ahead of yourself and allow the process to take place,” Ham said.
Ham added that the evaluation process is “still ongoing” for Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt left in the second quarter of the Lakers’ 114-105 victory over the Boston Celtics on Thursday because of what the team deemed “right foot soreness” after stealing the ball from Boston All-Star Jayson Tatum before hobbling after the play and limping to the team’s bench.
His postgame X-ray didn’t show any injury or damage. Vanderbilt finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists in 16 minutes.
Vanderbilt, 24, was finding his rhythm on the court recently after missing the season’s first 20 games because of left heel bursitis (inflammation).
He averaged 10.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 1.8 assists in his last eight games (22.8 minutes) before suffering the foot injury. His quick-twitch was starting to show again in the way he defended opposing teams’ top scoring options, jumped in passing lanes and crashed the offensive glass.
The defensive-minded Vanderbilt, whom the Lakers acquired from the Utah Jazz last February as part of their roster revamping ahead of the 2023 trade deadline, was a key contributor during their run to the Western Conference finals last spring.
Vanderbilt, who is in the final season of a three-year, $13.1 million contract he signed in September 2021, signed a four-year, $48 million extension with the Lakers last summer that will start next season.
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