On Friday, the Los Angeles Lakers announced that the guard Luka Doncic would miss the remainder of the regular season after suffering a grade 2 hamstring injury in his left leg. Doncic, prior to sustaining this injury, was the league-leading scorer and just won Western Conference Player of the Month for the month of March.
He has been the backbone of the Los Angeles Lakers this season as they are currently in third place in the Western Conference, but he suffered a leg injury in a blowout loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night. On Friday, an MRI revealed the grade of the strain.
Typically, this type of injury requires 4-8 weeks of recovery, according to Mercy Health. However, athletes have been known to return in that 3-6 week range as well. Doncic has also dealt with hamstring issues earlier in this season, missing four games before the All-Star break, but he returned after the break.
This season, Doncic has notched historic numbers in his first full season as a Los Angeles Laker following his midseason trade last season. He is averaging 33.5 points, 8.3 assists, and 7.7 rebounds per game. The six-time All-Star will definitely win the second scoring title of his career, but because of the 65-game rule, he will fall a game short of the required threshold to be eligible to be considered for the NBA’s end-of-the-year awards. For example, the NBA’s MVP award and All-NBA Team consideration.
However, ESPN’s Shams Charania shared a statement from Luka Doncic’s agent, Bill Duffy, that they will appeal the ruling and file an ‘Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge.’
“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. 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.”
According to NBA.com, “If Dončić wins the scoring title but doesn’t make the All-NBA teams, he would be only the third scoring champ in league history to fail to do so. Elvin Hayes wasn’t selected when he won the crown as a rookie in 1969, and Bob McAdoo wasn’t chosen for the teams in 1976.”
Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick, after the blowout loss, shared that Doncic was injured in the first half but was cleared by the medical staff to return.
Doncic’s former assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks, now the head coach of the Orlando Magic, Jamahl Mosley, reacted to the news of Doncic’s injury after the Mavs’ win over the Magic on Friday evening.
“I think he was right in the MVP race—at the top for me—and leading in a lot of ways. There’s a real battle going on between those guys, and you hate to see something like this happen again,” said Mosley.
‘My heart goes out to him. You know who he is, what he’s done, and the body of work he’s put in. He’ll bounce back—that’s his character and his toughness, always finding a way. I’m not exactly sure what happened, but hopefully he’s okay. He’s put together an incredible season.”
As for the Lakers, next up is the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, the first of the remaining five regular-season games before their season finale against the Utah Jazz on April 12th.
