D'Angelo Russell suffered a right ankle injury in the Los Angeles Lakers' loss to the Sacramento Kings on Jan. 7. Despite briefly returning on Jan. 8, he exited after eight minutes of action and missed Sunday's game. However, he is ready to return.  

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Russell Active vs. Pelicans

Tuesday, Jan. 12

Russell Struggling to Adjust to Life with Lakers

The loss to the Kings served as a microcosm of the 19-year-old's first season in the league. He finished with a career-high 27 points, adding two rebounds and four assists. But not only did his performance come in a losing effort, but Russell also came away from the game with an injury.

It's too early to call Russell a disappointment, though the team expected more from him. Entering Jan. 7, he was averaging 11.6 points and 3.4 assists per game.

His struggles are a combination of his own doing—39.4 percent shooting and 2.3 turnovers a game—and factors outside of his control, such as head coach Byron Scott's quizzical handling of his first-round draft pick, especially earlier in the year.

Russell is making progress, which made the timing of the injury more frustrating. Plus, Lakers fans don't want to see another rookie go down after Julius Randle suffered a season-ending leg injury in his first game last year.