You can’t fault Luka Dončić for not doing all he can to get back on the court.
It appears that Luka is heading to Europe in an attempt to get specialized treatment to return from his hamstring strain earlier than expected. His agent Bill Duffy relayed the message to Shams Charania and Dave McMenamin of ESPN on Sunday evening after the Lakers’ loss to the Mavs.
That’s certainly a lot to unpack.
Right now, Luka’s timeline is just kind of rough estimates based on previous Grade 2 strains. However, the general recovery time is around 4-5 weeks, which would rule him out for the first round of the playoffs and part of the second round, and the Lakers are not making it there without him.
But also, the playoffs are going to start two weeks from Sunday, which means he’d need to cut that recovery time in half to get back on the floor for the first round.
On the one hand, as noted above, Luka is clearly exhausting every possible option to heal this as quickly as he can. If that includes heading to Europe for treatment, then that’s a sacrifice he’s willing to make.
However, on the other hand, there’s also a tinge of uncertainty that exists. Hamstring strains are tricky injuries and rushing a return from them can have long-term ramifications. Obviously, he’s consulting with people he trusts within the Lakers and his own team, but there’s always going to be some doubt over whether this is the right decision.
It’s a tough spot Luka is in because he obviously wants to get back and help his team in the playoffs, especially with Austin Reaves out, too. But, again, hamstring injuries are not the type of injury you can rush a return.
There is a history of success stories with Lakers getting leg treatments in Europe. Famously, Kobe Bryant went to Germany to have his knee worked on and came back looking as good as ever. But that happened during the offseason, was a different body part and came under totally different circumstances.
Perhaps this is a situation of Luka doing the equivalent of LeBron James going to the LeBron James of feet to get back on the floor for the playoffs in 2023.
You can’t fault Luka’s heart. But you can wonder if this is the best decision given how quick the turnaround time to get back on the court will be.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
