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Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick chats with Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes (11) during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> may be shorthanded again as they try to rebound from a humiliating home loss.<\/p>\n Lakers center Jaxson Hayes<\/a> is questionable for Tuesday night\u2019s matchup against the Orlando Magic<\/a>, head coach JJ Redick<\/a> revealed Monday.<\/p>\n According to ESPN\u2019s Dave McMenamin, imaging on Hayes\u2019 right ankle showed a \u201csmall bruise,\u201d and the big man will be monitored on a day-to-day basis.<\/p>\n \u201cJJ Redick says Jaxson Hayes received imaging on his right ankle Monday, which showed a \u2018small bruise,\u2019\u201d McMenamin reported<\/a> on X. \u201cRedick said Hayes is day-to-day going forward and assumed the backup center will be listed as questionable for Tuesday\u2019s game vs. ORL.\u201d<\/p>\n Hayes Injury Adds to Post-Celtics Concerns<\/p>\n Hayes exited early in Sunday\u2019s loss to the Boston Celtics<\/a>, logging just five minutes before being ruled out. He finished with two points and one rebound as the Lakers unraveled in an embarrassing 111\u201389 defeat.<\/p>\n Before the injury, Hayes had been providing steady production off the bench, averaging 6.9 points and 3.9 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per game. While not a centerpiece, his absence thins an already fragile Lakers frontcourt rotation.<\/p>\n Los Angeles enters Tuesday fifth in the Western Conference at 34\u201322, but momentum has clearly stalled following Sunday\u2019s no-show.<\/p>\n James Worthy Unloads After Lakers\u2019 Effort Questioned<\/p>\n The loss was especially jarring given the circumstances. It came on the same night the franchise unveiled a statue honoring Pat Riley \u2014 and against a Celtics team still missing Jayson Tatum<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lakers legend James Worthy, who was in attendance, did not mince words afterward.<\/p>\n \u201cThis game, to me, wasn\u2019t about stats,\u201d Worthy said<\/a>. \u201cNo heart. Weak.\u201d<\/p>\n Worthy emphasized that the Lakers finally had Luka Don\u010di\u0107<\/a>, LeBron James<\/a>, and Austin Reaves<\/a> on the floor together \u2014 and still failed to respond.<\/p>\n \u201cNo Tatum, you\u2019re at home, you\u2019re in fifth place, you\u2019re trying to move up,\u201d Worthy said. \u201cYou show no respect for the uniform.\u201d<\/p>\n Boston controlled the game after the opening quarter, outscoring the Lakers in each of the final three periods. The Celtics dominated from beyond the arc and inside, finishing with 11 more assists and 11 more rebounds. Jaylen Brown<\/a> and Payton Pritchard<\/a> each topped 30 points, while Don\u010di\u0107 led Los Angeles with 25.<\/p>\n Slovenian Twist Could Shape Hayes\u2019 Future<\/p>\n Despite the uncertainty surrounding his ankle \u2014 and his contract \u2014 Hayes may have quietly strengthened his long-term outlook in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n ESPN\u2019s Brian Windhorst revealed earlier this month that Hayes has completed the paperwork to become a naturalized Slovenian citizen, making him eligible to play for Slovenia alongside Don\u010di\u0107 in international competition.<\/p>\n \u201cJaxson Hayes completed the paperwork to become a Slovenian,\u201d Windhorst said<\/a> on Feb. 11 episode of The Hoop Collective podcast. \u201cHe can join the Slovenian national team for Luka, which I\u2019d like to say is one of the smartest things Jaxson Hayes has ever done because I think he\u2019s just secretly signed a contract extension.\u201d<\/p>\n Hayes originally joined the Lakers in 2023 on a two-year, $4.6 million deal before returning last offseason on a one-year, $3.4 million contract. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.<\/p>\n Hayes and Don\u010di\u0107 share the same agent, Bill Duffy of WME Sports, adding another layer to the connection.<\/p>\n Back in October, Hayes explained his motivation for pursuing Slovenian basketball eligibility.<\/p>\n \u201cThey came to me with the idea,\u201d Hayes said<\/a> at the time. \u201cUSA doesn\u2019t do open tryouts, and I just wanted to play on that stage. I\u2019m gonna do whatever it takes to play on that stage.\u201d<\/p>\n Even if Hayes does not re-sign with the Lakers, the move ensures he will remain connected to Don\u010di\u0107 in future FIBA tournaments \u2014 with an eye toward qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.<\/p>\n For now, however, the Lakers\u2019 immediate concern is far more urgent: getting healthy, responding to internal criticism, and proving Sunday\u2019s collapse was an outlier \u2014 not a warning sign.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAlder Almo<\/a> is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy.com. He has more than 20 years of experience in local and international media, including broadcast, print and digital. He previously covered the Knicks for Empire Sports Media and the NBA for Off the Glass. Alder is from the Philippines and is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey. More about Alder Almo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Lakers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick chats with Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes (11) during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620731,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3790],"tags":[7,4034,1698,300,4044,251,150,4033,4043,6],"class_list":["post-620730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-lakers","tag-basketball","tag-la","tag-la-lakers","tag-lakers","tag-lalakers","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangeleslakers","tag-nba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116122312813100738","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}