Luka Doncic said Wednesday that he still does not know when he will be able to return from the Grade 2 hamstring strain that has kept him out since early April, leaving the question of whether is luka playing tonight unanswered for now. Game 2 on Thursday will mark five weeks to the day since the injury.
Doncic said he has started running but has not done any contact drills, and he was noncommittal when asked whether he intended to try to play when the series shifts to Los Angeles for Games 3-4. He said the doctor told him eight weeks of recovery on the day he had the MRI on his hamstring, a timeline that would push a return beyond Thursday if it holds.
“It’s very frustrating,” Doncic said. “I don’t think people understand how frustrating it is. All I want to do is play basketball, especially this time. It’s the best time to play basketball.” He added that it has been hard to watch his team play while he sits out, saying he is proud of what it is doing but that it has been “very tough” to just sit and watch.
JJ Redick said the team’s approach is straightforward. “It’s very simple,” he said. “It’s when he’s ready to play, he should play. That comes with the athlete having confidence. It’s no different from Austin [Reaves].”
Doncic’s injury came on April 2 in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and he has not played since. The setback arrived during an MVP-caliber campaign in his first full regular season with the Lakers, after he had already missed four games earlier in the season with a strain to the same hamstring and played only sparingly in the NBA All-Star Game because of the earlier problem.
He said he went to Spain for PRP treatment and received four PRP injections there, spaced four days apart. Doncic said he and the Lakers’ doctors all agreed to the trip, adding that Spain is among the best places to do that kind of treatment. He also said he has been doing everything he can to come back, including recovery work, the hyperbaric chamber and the cold tub, but that this injury feels different from ones he has dealt with before.
“It’s a tough one for me because I came back from injuries before too soon, and it wasn’t the best result,” Doncic said. “You have to be very careful, and I’m doing everything to come back.” For now, the only hard marker is the calendar: five weeks have passed, the doctor’s initial eight-week estimate still stands, and Doncic has not yet put a date on the next time he will step on the floor.
