The Lakers got bad news on Friday, and it’s the kind that could sink their season.
The hamstring injury Luka Dončić suffered Thursday night against the Thunder will keep him out indefinitely, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The team’s superstar guard will miss the rest of the regular season, and his status for the playoffs is in doubt.
That’s a devastating blow to the Lakers, who had won 16 of their last 18 games heading into Thursday night’s battle against Oklahoma City. Dončić had been playing brilliantly over the past three months, coming from out of nowhere to insert himself into the MVP conversation.
In 16 March games, Dončić averaged 37.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game. He shot 49.2% from the field, 39.2% from three-point range and hit 79.4% of his free throws. L.A. won 14 of those contests.
The Lakers are currently third in the Western Conference, 11 games behind the first-place Thunder, and one game up on the Nuggets, who have won seven in a row. L.A. is 50–27 with five games to go, and without Dončić it might be hard to hold off Denver.
LeBron James and Austin Reaves will have to step up and lift the team in his absence.
It’s worth noting that a hamstring isn’t the kind of injury players bounce back from quickly. It usually takes time to heal, and a ramp-up period would be needed. This is the worst time of year for an issue like this to arise.
The Lakers have become legitimate contenders since the All-Star break and have had a ton of momentum heading into the postseason. That just hit a wall unless Dončić can return to his former self quickly.
How the injury impacts Luka Dončić’s award status
During his first full season with the Lakers, Dončić has been one of the NBA’s best players. He’ll finish the regular season leading the NBA in scoring (33.5 points per game), third in assists (8.3), fourth in triple-doubles (eight), fifth in PER (28.0) and win shares (9.6), while averaging 7.7 rebounds.
It has been a brilliant campaign, and he deserves recognition for it. Unfortunately, he’ll finish the season having only played 64 regular season games, one below the NBA’s mark to qualify for postseason awards.
Soon after the news broke that Dončić would miss the remainder of the regular season, his agent released the following statement:
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.
Because Dončić missed two games due to the birth of his second child, he can challenge the 65-game rule. Injuries and suspensions do not qualify for a waiver, but issues related to personal matters can.
The rule was put in place to prevent stars from sitting out too many regular-season games due to “load management.” Attending the birth of his daughter in another country seems like an acceptable reason to miss a game.
We’ll see whether the NBA is sympathetic to his case.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Luka Dončić Injury Update is Devastating News for Streaking Lakers.
