Breaking news on Friday: Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic is out indefinitely due to a left hamstring injury. He will miss the remainder of the regular season, and his status is uncertain beyond that, sources tell @ShamsCharania and @mcten.
He suffered the non-contact injury in the third quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night. It was clear something was wrong when he grabbed the back of his left leg on a play, limped off, and was ruled out for the game.
This is the same hamstring he injured earlier in the season (in February against the Philadelphia 76ers). Obviously, when the same body part is reinjured, there’s a bigger concern for a longer-term issue.
An MRI on Friday confirmed the Grade 2 strain. Per reports, he is out indefinitely and will sit out the final games of the regular season. His status for the playoffs (which start in about 15 days) remains uncertain—a typical recovery for a Grade 2 hamstring strain is roughly 4-6 weeks.
This is a tough blow for the Lakers, who were riding high after Luka’s dominant March (he was named Western Conference Player of the Month). The team has dealt with other injuries this year (including to LeBron and Reaves), and losing their leading scorer/playmaker for the stretch run hurts their momentum heading into the postseason.
Statement from Luka Doncic’s agent Bill Duffy of WME Basketball:
“This season, Luka Dončić has performed at a historic level, leading the league in scoring, carrying the Lakers to third place in the Western Conference and placing himself in the middle of one of the most tightly contested MVP races in memory. To ensure that Luka’s incredible accomplishments this season are rightly honored and he can be considered for the league’s end-of-season awards, we intend to apply for an “Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge” to the 65-game rule.”
He adds:
“Luka missed two games this season for the birth of his second child in Slovenia. His daughter was born on Dec. 4 on another continent, and yet he was back in the United States competing with his team on Dec. 6. Luka has gone to great lengths to show up for his team and this league this season. His record-breaking season deserves to be noted in the history books, despite last night’s unfortunate injury and other extraordinary circumstances. We look forward to working with the NBAPA and the league office to ensure a fair outcome in this matter.”
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