The Lakers are getting closer and closer to have some backcourt help as Gabe Vincent is nearing his return to the court and is expected to play this season.

After so much time of no news and updates, the reports coming out on Gabe Vincent in recent weeks have been repetitive, even if also positive. The newest report on Tuesday was much of the same, but also had a bit more relevancy to it.

Allow me to explain.

First, the good news. According to longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein, Gabe Vincent remains on track to return this season, with said return getting closer and closer.

Why was this relevant on Tuesday? Well, early in the day, a report from Bill Reiter of CBS Sports stated that all three of Christian Wood, Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt were done for the season. It’s a report that certainly did not track with the latest updates received on the latter two.

This is where it’s important for fans to have a healthy amount of skepticism. The updates on Vincent and Vando have been, at worst, the two were still status quo in terms of their recovery.

If it feels like an update is a drastic change in the other direction in a quick time and it comes from someone who, with all due respect, does not regularly report Lakers news or break stories of any nature regarding the team, then there’s fair reason to be skeptical about it and not simply take it as fact.

As things stand, it feels unlikely Vincent is back on Friday against the Sixers, but his return feels very close. There’s another home game on Sunday before a lengthy road trip and, at worst, the road trip could be the target for his return. Vanderbilt feels further away, but nothing has indicated he’s going to be out for the season.

People mostly know Rex Chapman as that guy from Twitter, various podcasts, and TV appearances. He’s become a big-deal personality. They might also know it’s taken a long road of recovery for Chapman to reach this point in his life and career. And maybe people know Chapman used to play basketball … but not much more than that. That’s where this episode of Prism comes in: Chapman’s basketball career — from Kentucky to various interesting stints in the pros — is worth examining. There’s a lot to it. Let’s dig into the pretty good and very interesting basketball career of a person who’s become more famous for something else.

With Wood, there seems to be a decent chance he doesn’t return in the regular season, but if the team makes a run in the postseason, it certainly seems plausible he’ll be back this year.

So, breathe easy Lakers fans. Injuries haven’t certainly been an issue for the Lakers this season, but it’s all been good news of late.