Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes suffered a right ankle sprain on Nov. 10 — his best game of the season in replacement of Anthony Davis — and proceeded to miss the next two weeks. L.A. was extremely thin at center during that time, only having Davis and two-way player Christian Koloko for depth.
Hayes missed six games and finally made his return to the lineup on Nov. 26, when the Lakers were crushed by the Phoenix Suns in the Emirates NBA Cup. Hayes played 17 minutes in the loss and looked relatively strong, but he quickly re-aggravated the injury that held him out.