Jake Laravia’s “Steel Man” streak with the Lakers will come to an end on Friday night.
The fifth-year forward will miss the team’s home game against the Clippers at Crypto.com Arena after spraining his right ankle in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s season-opening win over the Warriors.
This is the first time Laravia has missed the regular season due to injury since he signed a two-year, $12 million contract with the Lakers in July 2025, after playing all 82 regular season games in the 2025-26 season.
He was one of 18 players who appeared in 82 regular-season games last season.
Laravia played in 90 consecutive games in the 2025-26 season, including 82 regular season games and eight playoff games, before becoming a DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) in the Lakers’ final two playoff games of the Lakers’ four-game second-round sweep of the Thunder.
The 6-foot-8 forward suffered an ankle injury midway through the fourth quarter with the Lakers leading by 33 points when he was guarded by L.J. Cryer while trying to drive into the paint.
With Clare hampering the offense, the 2022 first-round draft pick sprained his right ankle/calf awkwardly and limped to the ground.
Laravia lay on the court, writhing in pain, before the team’s coach helped him back to the bench.
He was able to put the weight on his legs before returning to the locker room after coming off the bench.
While head coach Redick didn’t have an immediate update on the veteran forward’s condition after the game, he was encouraged by his status compared to how he felt immediately after the injury.
“I’m probably more positive than when it first happened,” Redick said.
Laravia had a great game before being sidelined due to injury, scoring 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting off the bench.
“I saw him being himself,” Redick said. “When he shoots the ball with confidence and knocks down 3-pointers, that’s a bonus. We have a group of guys that do a lot of things to impact wins that don’t necessarily show up in a stat sheet and certainly don’t show up in an Instagram highlight reel. He’s a winning player.”
The former Wake Forest Demon Deacon was seen riding an exercise bike during Friday morning’s shootaround with Adu Tiero, who was also sidelined with a swollen left knee and was later ruled out.