Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Andy Nesbitt

Luka Dončić’s Injury Led to Tense Moment Between Austin Reaves and a Courtside Thunder Fan

The red-hot Lakers got blown out by the Thunder, 139-96, on Thursday night. While it was an ugly loss for the No. 3 team in the Western Conference, the final result was overshadowed by Luka Dončić leaving in the third quarter with a hamstring injury that will require a MRI on Friday to see just how bad it might be for their star player.

Dončić, who thrust himself into the MVP race with a historic month of March, seemed to tweak his hamstring in the first half and had some treatment done during the break. Then just a few minutes into the third quarter things took a bad turn for Dončić and the Lakers.

Here’s Dončić tossing the ball away and going to the ground after coming up lame while trying to make a move on the offensive end of the floor:

While Dončić was on the floor and trainers were dealing with the injury, his teammate Austin Reaves had a tense back-and-forth with a Thunder fan who was being disrespectful to Dončić.

“Luka, now you know what it’s like to play defense,” the fan said to Dončić.

“Shut the f--- up,” Reaves said to the fan. “Shut up. He’s f------ hurt.”

After sharing a few more NFSW exchanges, Reaves said to the fan: “He’s down hurt. That’s bull----. Have some f------ respect. Have some respect. Have some respect.”

The fan then bizarrely said to Reaves “Don’t interact with me” as if he wasn’t the one who started the whole thing with his classless line directed at Dončić.

Here’s the video of that moment, which includes a lot of bad words.

What LeBron James had to say about Luka Dončić’s injury

Dončić will undergo a MRI on Friday to determine how bad the injury is. The Lakers have five games left in the regular season and will need him at full strength in the playoffs if they want to make a serious run in the West.

LeBron had this to say after the game about Dončić:

"At this point, at this juncture of the season, it's the last thing you want to see. When you have an MVP candidate on your team, the last thing you want to see is somebody go down with a hamstring injury. ... So, pray for the best, for sure, and a speedy recovery."

JJ Redick addressed Dončić getting looked at before the injury

The Lakers coach said Dončić tweaked his hamstring in the first half and got some treatment. He added they were comfortable letting him go back out there in the second half.

"We checked him out," Redick said. "He got work done. He was cleared. I mean, again, we're not going to put a player at risk."

Where the Lakers stand with five games left in the regular season

The Lakers are 50-27 and currently sit in the No. 3 spot in the West. They are one game ahead of the Nuggets in the playoff race.

Their next game is Sunday at Dallas and then they host the Thunder on Tuesday before playing the Warriors, Suns and Jazz to close out the regular season.

It will be interesting to see what Dončić’s MRI shows on Friday and how much time he might have to miss because of the injury.

The Lakers had the look of being serious contenders just 24 hours ago, but that could all change depending on their star player’s hamstring.


More NBA from Sports Illustrated


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Luka Dončić’s Injury Led to Tense Moment Between Austin Reaves and a Courtside Thunder Fan.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.