{"id":94940,"date":"2024-09-09T16:58:28","date_gmt":"2024-09-09T20:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=94940"},"modified":"2024-09-09T16:58:28","modified_gmt":"2024-09-09T20:58:28","slug":"lakers-provide-update-on-injured-backup-center-christian-wood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/09\/lakers-provide-update-on-injured-backup-center-christian-wood\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Provide Update on Injured Backup Center"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NBA season has yet to begin, and the Lakers will already be down one player. The team provided a significant update on backup big man <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/woodch01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Christian Wood<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, who missed part of last year due to a season-ending knee injury.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Lakers Provide Update on Injured Backup Center<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3><b>Latest on Christian Wood<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On Monday afternoon, the Lakers announced that Wood underwent surgery on his left knee and will be re-evaluated in eight weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Lakers forward\/center Christian Wood underwent a successful arthroscopic surgical procedure on his left knee today. The procedure was performed by Dr. Kristofer J. Jones at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Wood will be reevaluated by team doctors in approximately eight weeks.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Lakers\/status\/1833234150427685271?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wood, like other <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/06\/lakers-rumors-key-forward-may-not-be-ready-for-training-camp-jarred-vanderbilt\/\" target=\"_self\">Lakers<\/a>, was hindered by injuries last season. Across 50 games, he averaged 6.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and one assist per game on .466\/.307\/.702 splits. He last played for LA on Feb. 14 against the Jazz, logging two points and four rebounds in 16 minutes of action.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His surgery comes weeks after he <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/26\/lakers-big-man-christian-wood-issues-bold-message-to-fans\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">posted a bold message to social media<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, declaring he is coming back with a \u201cvengeance.\u201d With the latest news of Wood\u2019s operation, fans will have to wait a little longer for his comeback, as he seeks to prove himself after a subpar first season in the purple and gold.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wood has since posted on X following the announcement of his surgery, writing:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Damn.. I was just feeling like my old self again and was in peak shape \u2026 Minor setback for a Major comeback, and to my fans, don\u2019t stop believing in me ..\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffd<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; 35 (@Chriswood_5) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Chriswood_5\/status\/1833236749059035381?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><b>More Chances for Wood&#8217;s Teammate<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wood\u2019s current timeline means he\u2019ll miss both training camp and preseason, opening up more opportunities for fellow big man <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hayesja02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jaxson Hayes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> behind <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/davisan02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anthony Davis<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The 24-year-old Hayes played 70 games last year, averaging 4.3 points, three rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. He also shot 72% from the field\u2014doing most of his damage as an athletic lob threat\u2014but 62% from the line. Similar to Wood, Hayes will look to bounce back this upcoming season, taking charge in supplementing a nine-time All-Star.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hayes\u2019s increased opportunity this season comes with an added bonus: his friendship with his new coach, <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/redicjj01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">JJ Redick<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The two played together on the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2020-21 season, and <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/lakersnation.com\/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-excited-to-work-with-new-head-coach-jj-redick\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hayes has since expressed excitement in reuniting with his former teammate<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We were very close friends my rookie year and he was my vet. So, I mean, we have a very close connection, very tight knit connection in like a little gang of guys my rookie year that we all would hangout all the time. But, it\u2019s crazy, I\u2019m just really excited to hopefully get to work with him and I just can\u2019t wait.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given the duo\u2019s familiarity with each other, there is no doubt Redick can unlock Hayes\u2019s game as opening night gets closer. Hayes already had some breakout performances at various points last season, headlined by a <a  href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/0l5GSypGagk?si=X6pm9h7DTMIVdg-L\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">19-point, 10-rebound double-double<\/a> against the Timberwolves in April. Though Hayes may not be a consistent double-double threat, fans should expect his play to improve early on next season. Hayes will play a vital role in Redick\u2019s rotation to start the year, with the potential to win the backup center role if he truly stands out.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The NBA season has yet to begin, and the Lakers will already be down one player. The team provided a significant update on backup big man Christian Wood, who missed part of last year due to a season-ending knee injury. Lakers Provide Update on Injured Backup Center Latest on Christian Wood On Monday afternoon, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":60106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,62],"tags":[240,3145,1962,2279,4557],"class_list":["post-94940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","tag-anthony-davis","tag-christian-wood","tag-jaxson-hayes","tag-jj-redick","tag-nba-offseason"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}