Nick Young will miss approximately eight weeks after undergoing surgery on Monday to repair a torn radial collateral ligament in his right thumb according to LA Times. Young suffered the injury while reaching in on Kobe Bryant on defense in an intra-squad scrimmage that the Lakers conducted last week on Thursday. Young is expected to get back in action on December 2 when the Lakers visit the Detroit Pistons which means he may have to sit out the team's first 17 games (20.7% of the season).
Lakers head coach Byron Scott was reportedly planning to utilize Young as a scorer off the bench. Now that he is injured, Scott will have to rely on the Rookie Jordan Clarkson for significant minutes in the second unit and move Kobe Bryant to small forward at times. Newly acquired guard Wayne Ellington, who has signed a non-guaranteed contract with the purple and fold this off-season, can take advantage of Young's absence as well.
Jeremy Lin, who was traded by the Houston Rockets to the LA Lakers this summer, meanwhile, seems reluctant to call Nick Young by his self proclaimed nickname, "Swaggy P."
"He's super-cool," Lin told the media last week, reported ESPN. "But I just find it ridiculous that everyone comes in and just calls him 'Swaggy.' You've got to earn it or something, and maybe he has but I just got here, so maybe I'll adopt [it] eventually."
Lin added that "It has to be something that I see, that when I look at him he just glows with Swaggy-ness" for Young to earn his Swaggy P title.
But the Lakers have a lot to worry about than Lin's refusal to call Nick Young by his "ridiculous" nick name. The team want's to get back in the playoff mix but the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans are all probably better. It would surely have helped their campaign in the brutal Western Conference if Swaggy P was around early in the season.
Join the Conversation