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Lakers star Anthony Davis cleared to play after eye poke knocked him out of win over Raptors early

Though his eye is still a bit red, Davis isn’t planning to wear goggles on the court Wednesday night against the Grizzlies

ryan young
Staff writer
·2-min read

Anthony Davis isn’t going to miss any time after his latest eye injury after all.

The Los Angeles Lakers star confirmed Tuesday that he is good to go and will play in Wednesdays’ game against the Memphis Grizzlies (10 p.m. ET, ESPN) after he took an inadvertent shot to the eye Sunday. Davis visited an ophthalmologist Monday as a “precautionary” measure, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamim.

“A couple scratches in my eye,” Davis said. “But as far as the medical term and everything like that, I’m not 100% sure. But I am cleared to play.”

Davis came up with a massive block against Toronto Raptors big man Jakob Poeltl at the rim in their 123-103 win over the Raptors on Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena. But right after stuffing Poeltl, Davis took an accidental shot to his left eye.

That sent Davis straight down to the court, where he remained for several moments before he was helped off the floor and taken to the locker room.

The eye is the same one that Davis struggled with last season. He sustained a corneal abrasion in March, and then he aggravated that injury again about a month later. Davis said his eyelid was briefly swollen shut from the initial hit last season.

Though his eye was still red Tuesday, Davis insists he’s good to go. And, while they might help, he’s not going to wear goggles on the court.

"I wore goggles for three years when I was younger," Davis said. "I just don't want to [now], to be honest. Obviously, the doctors said I didn't have to ... If it gets to that point where my eye doctor tells me that I need to wear them, then of course I will. But I've been cleared to go out and play without them."

Davis has averaged a career-high 31.2 points and 10.4 rebounds in nine games with the Lakers this season, his sixth with the team. He’s shot nearly 58% from the field, too, and is averaging two blocks per contest.

The Lakers, who have now won two straight, will enter Wednesday’s game with a 6-4 record. The game against the Grizzlies is not part of the NBA Cup, which opens Tuesday night across the league. The Lakers will take on the San Antonio Spurs on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) in their first tournament game.