This is the second time in six months that the center has had to undergo knee surgery, raising concerns among Los Angeles Lakers fans.

Last season, the Lakers were eliminated early in the NBA Playoffs 2024 primarily due to a lack of depth in their roster. As the 2024-25 season approaches, LeBron James’ team hopes to overcome their injury woes and start the Regular Season with a strong performance.

However, they were hit with bad news involving two key players. One of them is big man Christian Wood. According to a press release from the Lakers, Wood recently underwent successful surgery on his left knee on September 11.

Wood is expected to be sidelined for at least eight weeks, meaning he won’t return to the court until early November, assuming everything goes smoothly. This is the second time Wood has needed surgery on his left knee; he previously underwent a similar procedure in March 2024, which prevented him from recovering in time and led to him missing the remainder of the previous season.

Having to undergo surgery twice on the same knee is far from ideal, especially for a center like Wood, who stands 6’8″ and weighs 220 pounds and is frequently subject to heavy physical demands.

Adding to the Lakers’ concerns is the status of defensive specialist Jarred Vanderbilt, who has been out for over eight months due to a foot injury. According to Lakers-focused outlet Spectrum SportsNet, Vanderbilt’s return to play may be even more uncertain than Wood’s, who at least has a clear recovery timeline of eight weeks following his successful surgery.

After leaving Luka Dončić and the Dallas Mavericks to join the Lakers last summer, Christian Wood played 50 games under former Lakers coach Darvin Ham. While Wood had some standout moments, he struggled to fit into Ham’s system, which resulted in his playing time dropping to 17.4 minutes per game compared to nearly 30 minutes per game over the previous three seasons.

Wood, who averaged 16.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game for the Mavericks, saw those numbers drop to 6.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game with the Lakers.

Looking ahead to the new season, the Lakers are placing their trust in a new coach, JJ Redick. Although Redick lacks high-level coaching experience, he is expected to bring a fast-paced, ball movement-heavy style of play to the Lakers, with a high emphasis on perimeter shooting.

Wood may fit well into this new style, potentially playing a supportive role for his teammates and also taking advantage of his career 37.2% shooting from three-point range.