Lakers Forward Brandon Ingram Has Surgery to Repair Blood Clots in His Arm
Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram won’t be playing basketball for the next three to four months after having successful thoracic outlet decompression surgery on his right arm Saturday.
The young stud for the Lakers has had a tough go of it as of late, as last week he was shut down after an exam showed that he had deep venous thrombosis in his right shoulder.
With the Lakers out of the race for a playoff spot, it was by far the right decision to shut him down, as even with a Fanduel welcome offer playing him in one-day fantasy wasn’t doing fans or the team any good at this point.
The condition in Ingram’s shoulder was caused by a blood clot, and Saturday’s procedure saw that clot get removed to help out the blood flow in Ingram’s upper body.
“This couldn’t have been a better set of facts for a clot,” Ingram’s agent, Jeff Schwartz tells ESPN.
“It’s a night-and-day difference between a hematological issue, or a blood issue however you want to put it, and a structural issue,” Schwartz adds. “This was not related to his blood producing something that would cause blood clots. This was purely structural.”
The Lakers say he is expected to make a full recovery before the start of his fourth NBA season in the fall.
Ingram was the No. 2 pick in the 2016 draft out of Duke. He turns 22 in September, and this season really came into his own, averaging a career-best 18.3 points and 5.1 rebounds this season prior to the injury that derailed the rest of the year.
Lakers coach Luke Walton did not give many details about the injury prior to the team announcing the news, and the only details he gave was that he was in touch with Ingram and felt sorry for his state of affairs. Ingram did not join the team on the road trip.
Since Ingram has been out, the Lakers have also shut down second-year guard Lonzo Ball, and the dreams of a postseason runs are over with the team going 1-5 in their last six games.
The team has also looked at the future of LeBron James, at this point reducing his minutes, going so far as to sit him out Friday night against Detroit.
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