In the wake of Kobe Bryant’s injured elbow, yet another re-aggravation of Dwight Howard’s shoulder injury, and Metta World Peace’s rolled ankle, the Lakers actually received some good injury news.
Pau Gasol is inching closer to a return and told Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News that he intends to seek medical clearance to start running drills when the Lakers return to Los Angeles on Thursday.
This should not be a total shock to anyone following Gasol's progress for the past week.
On Feb. 26, Gasol had a brief Twitter exchange with the Los Angeles Times’ Eric Pincus that revealed he was no longer on crutches. The next day, Triple Threat got a brief glimpse of Gasol performing some light weight activities in the Lakers’ training room.
On Feb. 28, Gasol publicly resurfaced at the Los Angeles Lakers practice facility, as he worked on building stamina on the elliptical machine. Two days later, Gasol and Jordan Hill were working side-by-side on elliptical machines when the media entered practice.
Considering the consistent stream of positive signs recently, the latest bit of Gasol news should come as no surprise, but it is still warmly welcomed by the team and fans alike.
Gasol originally suffered a tear in his plantar fascia on Feb. 5 in the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ win at Brooklyn. The Spaniard was expected to miss 6-8 weeks with the injury. With four weeks gone, Gasol is still expected to be about 2-4 weeks away from a full return to the team.
At this point, though, the Los Angeles Lakers will gladly accept any positive injury news that falls at their feet, or elbows, or hips, or ankles, or shoulders.
