Newcomer Drummond out
Lakers center loses a toenail and will sit out against Sacramento tonight.
Every few seconds during his postgame videoconference, Andre Drummond glanced down at his right big toe, the one missing a toenail, the one for which X-rays came back negative beyond a bruise.
It wasn’t the sort of debut Drummond anticipated in his first start for the Lakers after signing with them as a free agent on Sunday.
The injury happened when Milwaukee center Brook Lopez stepped on Drummond’s foot during the Lakers’ 112-97 loss to the Bucks on Wednesday at Staples Center, and it has left his playing status as day to day, although the Lakers said he will not make the trip to Sacramento for a game against the Kings on Friday. Teammate Wesley Matthews (sore neck) is listed as questionable.
“Yeah, um, in the first quarter when I came out, I had got stepped — Brook had stepped on my foot, and I didn’t really think anything of it,” Drummond said. “I came back in the second quarter and it was hurting a little bit more. And then after halftime, I finally took my sock off to look and my whole toenail was gone. So, it was just all bad from there. I couldn’t walk or run. So, I just told coach [Frank Vogel] to take me out.”
Drummond played 14 minutes and 20 seconds. He finished with four points, one rebound, two assists, one blocked shot, four fouls and three turnovers.
“As of right now, I’m just going to just ... what do you do for a toe? I don’t know,” Drummond said. “I’m not really sure what to do. I’m just going to talk to the training staff and find out what’s the best thing to do to get back as quick as possible.”
Teammate Markieff Morris said he had a broken toenail and that it was debilitating while playing through the pain until it healed.
“I mean, I played the next game, but ... man, that [thing] was like a month and a half before it started feeling better,” Morris said. “It’s a terrible thing.”
Drummond last played in an NBA game Feb. 12 when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who pulled him out of the lineup as they sought a trade partner. The Cavaliers eventually bought out Drummond’s contract after the trade deadline; he cleared waivers and joined the Lakers.
“I don’t know what to say at this point. It’s just unfortunate,” Drummond said. “You know, like I said, it’s unfortunate that it happened in the first game, but there’s not much I could do about it.”
The X-ray came back with good news, at least.
“Yeah, I was definitely very happy to see that it was a negative result on the X-ray,” he said. “So, it’s just a day by day, just icing it, taking care of it and making sure I get it wrapped up to seal the missing toenail that’s not there.”
Drummond said he has lost a toenail before.
“But this one was very painful,” he said. “I’m looking — you see me looking down at it because I’m like, I can’t even put shoes on. I have my flipflops right now. So, it’s very, very painful . ...
“If you saw the first couple minutes of the game that I was out there, just the energy defensively that I brought and it kind of boosted everybody on both ends of the court,” he said. “It kind of was a little deflating for me, but my head is high. I’m going to ... come back better than ever.”
TONIGHT
AT SACRAMENTO When: 7
On the air. TV: Spectrum SportsNet; Radio: 710, 1330. Update: The Kings are 7-3 in their last 10 games. De’Aaron Fox leads Sacramento in scoring (24.7), assists (7.2) and steals (1.3). The Kings are sixth in the NBA in scoring (115) and 29th in points allowed (118.5).