Lakers Injury Report: Mo Bamba Supplies Update On Sore Left Ankle

LA's reserve center has yet to play in its second round matchup.

Los Angeles Lakers center Mo Bamba has been inactive for all five contests in his team's ongoing best-of-seven second round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors thus far, due to a high ankle sprain.

Now, the 3-and-D rim-protecting big man has provided his own health update to Marc J. Spears of Andscape. The 7-footer informs Spears that he expects he could play for LA during the Western Conference Finals, should the Lakers advance that far.

Keep in mind, Los Angeles got up to a 3-1 advantage over the reigning champs earlier in this series, and still leads the series 3-2 with the matchup now returning to Crypto.com Arena tonight.

Should the Lakers advance tonight against the Warriors, as Las Vegas oddsmakers and I expect, they would face off against the top-seeded Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, which should tip off on Tuesday.

Bamba, who turns 25 today, is a career 35.9% three-point shooter on 2.5 attempts a game, though he made just 31.3% of his 1.8 tries this season in limited minutes for LA, and was slotted behind Wenyen Gabriel in the team's rotation even when he was healthy. Los Angeles holds a $10.3 million team option on Bamba this summer. Unless he has a big moment -- or, ideally, several -- in these playoffs, I'd expect him to wind up elsewhere for less this summer.

Are you following us on Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube yet? Join the conversation as we discuss the latest Lakers news and rumors with fans like you!