Yet Another Laker To Miss Weeks After Thumb Surgery

First it was Dennis Schroder having surgery on his thumb. Now the Los Angeles Lakers have announced that Schroder will be joined by center Thomas Bryant on the injured list with the exact same injury and the exact same surgery. 

Update: “Thomas Bryant underwent successful surgery today to repair the ulnar collateral ligament on his left thumb. Bryant will be reevaluated by team doctors in approximately three weeks, and further updates will be provided at that time.”

Same injury as Schröder (other hand).

— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) October 18, 2022

Both players had surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in their thumbs (Bryant left thumb, Schroder right thumb). Bizarre coincidence. The team says both will be reevaluated after about three weeks. 

But according to sports injury expert Jeff Stotts, their absences may be a lot longer than that. 

Shared this yesterday when Schröder went down and it holds true for Thomas Bryant today. The average time lost for an in-season UCL repair in the NBA is 23.8 games (~ 7.5 weeks). https://t.co/YmMOx8R9h7

— Jeff Stotts (@InStreetClothes) October 18, 2022

Stotts says the average time lost for an in-season UCL repair in the NBA is approximately 7½ weeks, which is about 24 games.

Not how the Lakers wanted to come into the season. Lose your backup point guard and your backup center, both for weeks. 

Bryant is a 5-year veteran who has career averages of 10.2 points and 5.7 rebounds in about 20 minutes per contest. 

Photo: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports