Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic will be out anywhere from three to six weeks after suffering a Grade 2 strain on his left hamstring. The Slovenian superstar sustained the unfortunate injury in the Purple and Gold’s 139-96 blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.
With this injury, Doncic is likely to miss at least the first round of the NBA playoffs, which will be starting in two weeks. The Lakers, at 50–27, are currently No. 3 in the West but are just 2.5 games from sliding to fifth with an ill-timed losing streak. The Purple and Gold have five games left on their schedule, with outings against the Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns, and Utah Jazz.
The good news for the Lakers is that the Mavericks, Warriors, and Jazz all have losing records. Critically, they also own the tiebreaker over the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, and Minnesota Timberwolves. So, even without Doncic, it is still likely that LA will finish either third or fourth in the West and get homecourt advantage, at least in the first round.
Doncic‘s Team to Appeal for End-of-Season Awards
On an individual level, Doncic’s injury means he won’t meet the NBA’s 65-game threshold to be eligible for any of the league’s end-of-season awards, including the MVP and the All-NBA selections. The Slovenian, of course, has made a strong push for the former and very likely would have earned a spot on one of the three All-NBA Teams after putting up 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 8.3 assists this season in 64 games.
As such, Doncic’s representation, led by agent Billy Duffy, is planning to appeal for an “Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge” to the 65-game rule to keep the Lakers guard eligible for end-of-season awards.
“This season, Luka Doncic 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,” Duffy said in a statement. “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.”
The statement added that “Luka has gone to great lengths to show up for his team and this league this season” and that “his record-breaking season deserves to be noted in the history books, despite last night’s unfortunate injury and other extraordinary circumstances.”
It certainly is a fair point, and it would be interesting to see if the NBA will side with Doncic on this matter. Bigger picture, though, would be the Lakers’ playoff chances that hinge on their superstar’s availability.
