Over the years, some Los Angeles Lakers fans have noticed that injured players on opposing teams suddenly become healthy enough to return to action when their team faces the Lakers. Some have even given the phenomenon a pseudo-medical term: "Lakers Game Sudden Recovery Syndrome."
Prior to Saturday's game between the Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies, Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant was listed as questionable with a hamstring strain. He had missed each of the team's last six games, but of course, he was deemed good to go against the Purple and Gold.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick said his team's analytics department looked into this "Lakers Game Sudden Recovery Syndrome" theory, and it found that there may be some truth to it.
JJ Redick said the Lakers' analytics dept looked into the internet fan theory that opposing team players suddenly get healthy when it's time to play L.A. "I think it's like 86% of [opposing] payroll has been available to [play] us this year, which is by far No. 1 in the league"
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) March 29, 2025
In any case, the Lakers built a big lead, only to blow it, but they regained control enough to escape with a 134-127 win on Saturday. The win kept them in fourth place in the Western Conference and gave them a one-game cushion over the Grizzlies, who are in fifth place.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: JJ Redick on 'Lakers Game Sudden Recovery Syndrome' internet theory
