Luka Dončić spoke to the media for the first time since suffering his hamstring strain in early April on Wednesday following the Lakers’ practice.
The news was mixed, but the biggest takeaway is that he is far from a return. Luka was told his original timeline for returning was eight weeks. Since he went down with his injury on April 2, that means eight weeks would be around the last week of May. That, obviously, would make him unavailable for the Thunder-Lakers series.
“The day I did the MRI on the hamstring,
the doctors told me eight weeks at the beginning,” Luka said, via Michael Duarte of the California Post. “So, I’m doing everything I can in the process. I think we’re on a good way, but at the beginning, they told me eight weeks.”
That’s a devastating blow for the Lakers, but no surprise. It was reported earlier that Luka was making slow progress and was not close to returning. Lakers head coach JJ Redick has been asked repeatedly about Luka and has consistently said, in some form, “no update.”
What is a surprise is how long Luka expects to be out. Eight weeks is a significant amount of time to be gone, and again, even that is a projection. He could be out even longer. The only good news is that he doesn’t seem to be suffering any setbacks. Luka is now running, but he hasn’t been cleared for full-contact work.
He’s done everything he could to expedite his return, including going to Spain to get treatment. Still, he is weeks away from playing in a game, which underlines the severity of the injury.
“I’m just in the process,” Luka said. “I’m working every day. I feel better every day. Like I said, in the beginning they said eight weeks, so we’ll just go from there.”
When asked about returning for this series, he wouldn’t say it was possible and just reiterated that he was told it would be eight weeks and that he’s working hard to get back on the court.
“I’m just doing everything I can, like I said,” Dončić stated. “Every day I’m doing stuff I’m supposed to do, obviously recovering, not working. But I said, the doctor said eight weeks, at the beginning of the first MRI. So, I’m just going day by day and I feel better every day.”
Lakers fans shouldn’t expect Luka back at this point against the Thunder. The Lakers are currently down 1-0 and with games happening basically every other day, there is no shot he recovers, ramps up and returns in time for any games. Even if the series goes seven games, it would end on May 18, which would still be only seven weeks removed from Luka’s injury.
It seems the only way he can return is if the Los Angeles beat Oklahoma City and reach the Western Conference Finals.
That’s a tough and unfair task given to the Lakers, but it’s the reality of the situation.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
