Lakers’ Christian Wood Undergoes Knee Surgery

Los Angeles Lakers big man Christian Wood underwent a successful arthroscopic surgical procedure on his left knee. Further updates will be provided as appropriate on the NBA veteran. 

The Lakers say Christian Wood underwent a successful arthroscopic surgical procedure on his left knee today. There will be an update on his timetable for a return at a later date.

— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) March 19, 2024

Wood has appeared in 50 games this season. He’s averaging 6.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists while shooting 46.6% from the field, 30.7% from beyond the arc and 70.2% from the free-throw line. 

Wood has career averages of 13.6 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists. It will be interesting to see if he plays again this season. 

The Lakers are in ninth place in the Western Conference standings with a record of 37-32. They are ninth in the NBA in points per game and 23rd in points per game allowed. 

If the regular season ended today, the Lakers would face the Golden State Warriors in the 9-10 play-in tournament game. Los Angeles beat Golden State in the second round of the 2023 playoffs in six games. 

The Lakers defeated the Atlanta Hawks on March 18 to snap a two-game losing streak. Superstar LeBron James finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists in 28 minutes while shooting 10-of-14 overall, 2-of-5 from 3 and 3-of-3 from the foul line. 

“Just setting a tone, trying to set a tone,” Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said of James. “It’s money time right now. We have no time to waste. It starts with our two captains.”

The Lakers are back in action on March 22 when they host the Philadelphia 76ers, who are still playing without Joel Embiid. 

“There’s a couple of new wrinkles we want to do on both sides of the ball and we’ll get a chance to look at,” Ham said. “… No matter what’s happening around the league, or around the positioning with our team, if we don’t, again, try to be the best version of ourselves and take care of our own business, nothing else will matter.”