Lakers guard, ex-Heat playoff hero hit with new injury amid Luka, LeBron’s absence

The Los Angeles Lakers were handed another unfortunate injury in the midst of Austin Reaves' historic 51-point, 11-rebound, nine-assist outburst in a 127-120 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.

Despite Reaves' incredible outing, the Lakers could not make it through yet another game without a key role player sustaining a new injury, with their latest victim being 7-year veteran point guard Gabe Vincent, who twisted an ankle in the third quarter of the contest.

With LeBron James, Luka Dončić, Jaxson Hayes and others already set to miss time due to a myriad of ailments, Vincent will likely join Los Angeles' 26-year-old phenom, 40-year-old future Hall of Famer and impactful 25-year-old lob threat on the injury report.

According to SBNation's Jacob Rude, Vincent's subsequent appearance in a walking boot after the game may be a sign that the experienced guard could be missing from action for a short while.

"Walking boots are not indicative of any specific type of injury, necessarily," Rude wrote Monday morning.

"It could simply be a precautionary measure the team took before heading back to Los Angeles for the night and further testing on Monday."

"At the same time, if he’s wearing a walking boot, that does mean the sprain is at a certain level that isn’t great. It feels safe to assume that, at the very least, he won’t play on Monday, and his availability the rest of the week is up in the air."

"In that case, the Lakers will be seriously shorthanded."

If Vincent is slated to miss a few games, the Lakers' backcourt rotation will have quickly turned into a shell of itself.

Through his first three appearances in 2025-26, the 29-year-old had not been lighting the world on fire. Vincent had averaged just 3.7 points and 2.3 assists on a putrid 30.8% effective field goal percentage, but his injury could remove yet another reliable ball-handler from the equation.

Rude would go on to mention that Los Angeles' head coach JJ Redick would have to depend on developmental talents such as Bronny James and Chris Mañon going forward, creating a daunting situation for the second-year lead strategist.

The Lakers' reduced guard play leaves Reaves in a peculiar, extremely demanding spot, but it could also allow him to take full advantage of an opportunity to land a massive contract this offseason if he were to decline his $14.9 million player option for the 2026-27 season.

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