Anthony Davis Injury: Updates on Hornets Star's Shoulder

Injury-plagued rookie Anthony Davis has been dealing with a shoulder injury recently, but is making progress.

UPDATE: Monday, Mar. 4, at 11:29 a.m. ET by Brandon Galvin

Great news for Hornets fans as Anthony Davis (shoulder) is expected to play tonight, according to New Orleans Times-Picayune's Jimmy Smith.

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UPDATE: Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 1:20 p.m. ET by Tim Daniels

Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports Davis will not play tonight when the Hornets take on the Oklahoma City Thunder due to his injured shoulder.

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Hornets sideline reporter Jennifer Hale reported last week that Davis left New Orleans' game against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday with an injured shoulder:

Davis went down midway through the third quarter, and was seen writing in pain. He was taken out of the game for Ryan Anderson with 3:55 remaining in the third period and the Hornets down, 66-59.

Assuming that Davis’ night is over, he will finish with six points and four rebounds in 21 minutes of action as the Hornets struggled to keep up with the visiting Nets.

The first overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft, Davis’ first professional season has been an up-and-down affair. He’s averaging a very solid 12.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, but has been prone to his fair share of rookie mistakes.

Most notably, Davis, who excelled on the defensive end at Kentucky, has struggled with defensive rotations. The Hornets are a better defensive team with Davis on the floor, per NBA.com, but his progress has been slow throughout the season. 

Quite possibly the biggest reason for Davis’ slower-than-expected development has been injuries. He has missed 13 games this season, and has suffered from knee, head and ankle injuries at different times. Never quite completely healthy at any point in the campaign, Davis was finally rounding into form as his knee was reaching the 100 percent level.

If this shoulder injury winds up being more serious than expected, it will be yet another setback for Davis, who has to be frustrated at this point. With the Hornets far out of the Western Conference playoff race, don’t expect him to be rushed back into the lineup.

Davis is a face-of-the-franchise type talent, so expect New Orleans to proceed with caution—especially considering the snakebitten fashion of the young forward’s season.