Just a few days after being drafted by the New Orleans Hornets with the first overall pick in this year’s draft, Anthony Davis has reportedly suffered an ankle injury that could keep him off the Olympic team.
There are some conflicting reports about the severity of the injury at this time, anywhere from a light to a severe sprain but we probably will not know anything until he is evaluated later in the week.
With the Olympics less than a month away, if the injury is anything worse than a light sprain, you have to assume Davis would skip out on the trip to London. USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo is not ready to make the call yet.
“Just getting a report that his ankle is serious doesn’t mean anything to me until we get an official doctor’s report on what that means,” Colangelo told Sports Illustrated. “Does it mean he can’t practice for a week? Does it mean he’s out for a month? You know what I’m saying. I don’t like to speculate.”
It is true, you do not want to get ahead of yourself here, but this injury bug going around the Olympic basketball players is becoming an epidemic.
With Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade dropping out in the last week and Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard already giving up their spots, the U.S. team is considerably weaker than it would be at full strength.
Granted, Davis was going to be the only one on the team without any NBA experience and might not have even played that much, but at this point any loss is going to hurt.
Team USA is scheduled to gather in Las Vegas at the end of the week for training camp. One of the big storylines to keep an eye on will be Davis’ attendance and whether or not he is out there ready to go.
