Brandon Ingram’s Deep Venous Thrombosis ends his breakout season early

Ingram will step away from basketball to handle his health. Here’s what DVT is and why it has to be taken seriously.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram has been diagnosed with deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in his right arm and will miss the rest of the season. On Saturday, the team announced that Ingram “underwent successful thoracic outlet decompression surgery on his right arm.”

The diagnosis ends a breakout year for Ingram and is another blow to the Lakers’ slim chances of making the playoffs. It could either be a serious condition that potentially puts his playing career in jeopardy, or a one-time incident that he’ll recover from before taking the court again next season.

Ingram was averaging 18 points, five rebounds and three assists per game. He became a reliable scorer and playmaker for the lakers this season. But basketball is only a game; life is not. Ingram will have to step away while he handles this condition.

What is deep venous thrombosis?

DVT is a condition caused by blood clots and usually occurs in the leg. If unaddressed, DVT can become a pulmonary embolism, or a blood clot that becomes fatal after it blocks an artery in the lungs.

Ingram had missed the Lakers last two games with a sore shoulder.

Blood thinning medicine is the typical treatment.

What next?

Ingram will likely be put on blood thinning medicine, according to Spectrum SportsNet’s Mike Bresnahan. The DVT diagnosis becomes much more serious, according to HoopsHype’s Alex Kennedy, if it recurs for Ingram in the future.

Have other athletes had DVT?

Yes. Serena Williams, Chris Bosh and Anderson Varejao each suffered from a blood clot in their playing careers. This became much more serious for Bosh, whose deep venous thrombosis became a pulmonary embolism and cut his professional career short.

How does this affect the Lakers?

It’s awful. Ingram is Los Angeles’ second-best player, and they have already been without Lonzo Ball, who also may not play again this season due to an ankle injury. The team is 15-8 when Ball, Ingram and LeBron James are each healthy. They are 15-27 when one of them have been hurt.

The Lakers are also 6.5 games behind the San Antonio Spurs for the eighth and final spot in the playoffs. There are 17 games left on the schedule. Anything is possible, but post season basketball looks more and more unlikely for the Lakers by the day.

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