Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic will miss the remainder of the NBA regular season with a left hamstring strain, the team said Friday. Doncic “has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and will be out for the remainder of the regular season,” the Lakers, who have five games left in the regular season, said in a statement. ESPN reported that Doncic, who leads the league in scoring, is “uncertain” for the playoffs.
Doncic’s injury is a massive blow to the Lakers, who have clinched a playoff berth but at third in the Western Conference are just one game ahead of the fourth-placed Denver Nuggets. Doncic, who is averaging 33.5 points per game, 8.3 assists, and 7.7 rebounds, limped out of the third quarter of the Lakers’ crushing 139-96 loss to the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. The 27-year-old Slovenian was emotional as he hobbled toward the sideline. Moments earlier he had pulled up in obvious pain while driving to the basket.
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Doncic had felt some discomfort in the hamstring in the first half of Thursday’s game, but coach JJ Redick said team medical staff had cleared him to return for the second half. “We checked him out,” Redick said after the game. “He got work done, but he was cleared. We’re not going to put a player at risk. Those things happen.”
Doncic produced a magical March campaign, delivering 13 30-point performances. That included seven 40-point games – with one game of 51 and one of 60. He had joined icon Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to score 600 points in the month of March and became one of just 10 players to score 600 points in any calendar month. He has been central to the Lakers’ surge to third in the West and put himself firmly in the Most Valuable Player conversation. But missing five more games could see him fail to play the minimum 65 games required for award eligibility.
‘Extraordinary Circumstances’ – His agent, Bill Duffy of WME Basketball, told ESPN that he will apply for an “Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge” to the 65-game rule on Doncic’s behalf. In a statement to the sports network, Duffy noted that Doncic had missed two games for the birth of his second child in Slovenia. “His daughter was born on December 4, on another continent, and yet he was back in the United States competing with his team on December 6,” Duffy said.
“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 (National Basketball Players Association) and the league office to ensure a fair outcome in this matter.”
Doncic is in his first full season with the Lakers after he was stunningly traded from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Anthony Davis in February 2025.
© 2024 AFP
