The Los Angeles Lakers had a big loss on their roster after Austin Reaves went down. Coach JJ Redick and Co. were up against the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road but decided to get an MRI for their guard in the next game. This meant that the Dallas Mavericks had to take care of the guard who was in pain. It became known that some protocols that the Lakers wanted were not followed and the head coach went off at the opposing team’s medical staff. Now, the Mavericks finally had a response.
Mavericks finally respond to Lakers, Austin Reaves concerns
Coach Redick’s primary concern was that the Mavericks conducted an MRI on the wrong part of Reaves’ body. He was understandably livid about the situation and would like to find answers about his guard’s injury. The Lakers head coach did not mince words when this information was relayed to him, via Christian Clark of The Athletic.
“I don’t know where the chain of command lies with Dallas imaging, but uh, they scanned the wrong area. Not on our end. We made it explicit what was supposed to be scanned, but they scanned the wrong area,” Redick said about the Mavericks’ medical team.
Since then, the Lakers have figured out the actual injury that Reaves was suffering. He suffered a Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury when going up for a rebounds against the Thunder. This forced Coach Redick and the rest of the Lakers staff to sideline Reaves for the remainder of their regular season campaign. He will likely be out for about four to six weeks if the injury recovery goes well.
The Mavericks medical team, on the other hand, outlined that they did their part in scanning Reaves properly.
“Our medical team followed standard imaging protocols based on the information provided at the time. There was no error in the scan performed,” they said in a statement.
There is no clear indication that the NBA will investigate this matter. What matters now is that the Lakers can finally start treating Reaves’ injury and the Mavericks medical staff got to clear the air because their reputation was on the line.