Lakers’ Anthony Davis could return in January from stress injury in foot

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis has had a subsiding of pain in his right foot stress injury and is expected to re-evaluate the possibility of resuming play after another seven-to-10 days of rest, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday.

The Lakers announced on Friday that Davis remains out with a “stress injury,” but sources said that there remains hope that Davis can avoid surgery on the stress injury and could be in position to resume playing should he continue with positive progress.

The Lakers and Davis will remain cautious on the injury, but there’s hope that there could be a pathway to resuming play sometime shortly after the re-evaluation in early January.

Davis injured the foot last week during a game against the Denver Nuggets after his lower right leg bumped with Nikola Jokic while the two were in midair near the basket in the first quarter.

L.A. had been identifying Davis’ injury as right foot soreness until Friday, when the team termed it a stress injury after what the Lakers called “extensive consultation” with team doctors and outside specialists. ESPN previously reported that Davis would miss multiple weeks of playing time, at a minimum, because of the injury.

Sources told Wojnarowski that the pain in Davis’ right foot has subsided in the past several days and he’s expected to rest it for another seven to 10 days. He’ll then have it reevaluated for a possible return to play.

For now, there’s hope that a procedure can be avoided, the source added.

Davis, who was present for Lakers shootaround Friday wearing a winter hat and slippers while he was on the court, will miss his fourth straight game when L.A. hosts the Charlotte Hornets. The Lakers have gone 1-2 without him since the Denver game.

The 11-year veteran had been enjoying a career renaissance this season before the injury, averaging 27.4 points on a career-best 59.4% from the field, while also grabbing a career-high 12.1 rebounds per game with 2.6 assists, 2.1 blocks and 1.3 steals.