Lakers guard Dennis Schroder to miss extended stretch under NBA health and safety protocols
Schroder was expected to be sidelined 10 to 14 days in his second COVID-related absence of the season, coach Frank Vogel said, as the Lakers fought for playoff positioning.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Dennis Schroder was expected to miss an extended stretch of games under the NBA's health and safety protocols, according to ESPN's report on May 3, 2021. Schroder sat out the Lakers' 121-114 loss to the Toronto Raptors, with Alex Caruso starting in his place.
ESPN and ABC News both reported the expected absence at 10 to 14 days, citing sources. It marked the second time this season Schroder had missed games tied to the protocols; he had already sat out four games in February after contact tracing flagged an exposure.
The reporting does not establish the specific nature of Schroder's health and safety protocol status — whether it followed a positive test, a new contact-tracing exposure, or another protocol trigger — and no outlet reviewed here specified that detail.
What it means for the roster
The timing fell late in the regular season: per ESPN, the Lakers held a 36-28 record with eight games remaining and sat as the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference, positioning them for the newly introduced play-in tournament rather than a guaranteed playoff berth. Schroder, in his first season with the Lakers and playing for a new contract as a pending free agent, was averaging 15.5 points, 5.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game.
The framing: Vogel and James on vaccination
Coach Frank Vogel connected the absence to the team's push for players to get vaccinated: "We definitely pointed out to our whole team the benefits of as many guys getting vaccinated as possible...All those types of things were laid out very clearly for our guys," he said, per ESPN.
I think our team is predicated on health. That is the No. 1 thing for our ballclub...the starting point guard is not in the lineup.
LeBron James's comment, quoted by ESPN, underscored how directly the loss of a starting point guard late in a playoff push affected the team's outlook.
What it signals
A second protocol-related absence for the same player in a single season showed how, even in the 2020-21 season's closing weeks, health and safety protocols remained a live roster risk rather than an early-season problem team's had already put behind them — one Vogel explicitly used to make the case for vaccination to the rest of the roster.
US In News compiled this archived account from contemporaneous coverage by ESPN and ABC News. It restores a story originally published on this site in May 2021; figures are as reported at the time.