Lakers star Luka Doncic goes through court drills before potential return: ‘Soon’

Khobi Price

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Apr 23, 2026

There hasn’t been an official update on the timeline for Luka Doncic’s return to the court — but there was an encouraging sign before the Lakers traveled to Houston.

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Luka Doncic practices shooting a basketball with other players on the court. — Khobi Price

Luka Doncic practicing basketball on a court. — Khobi Price

Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers lies on the court with his hands covering his face during a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. — Getty Images

Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) falls to the court during a play against the Oklahoma City Thunder. — Even though he wasn’t available for the end of the season, the Lakers are expected to build around Doncic in the offseason.Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Luka Dončić smiling and clapping during a game. — Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers smiles during the game against the Houston Rockets during Round One Game One of the 2026 NBA Playoffs on April 18, 2026 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images)NBAE via Getty Images

Basketball player Luka Doncic in a purple Lakers jersey with number 77, smiling on court. — When speaking with media on Wednesday morning, Lakers star Luka Doncic confirmed that he will be returning for the NBA playoffs.Getty Images

Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves smiling during a game. — Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves combined for 56.8 points, 13.8 assists and 12.4 rebounds per game.NBAE via Getty Images

Doncic was seen going through light shooting drills with assistant coach Greg St. Jean and head video coordinator Michael Wexler after the Lakers’ practice on Thursday before they left Southern California for Game 3 and Game 4 of the best-of-seven first round playoff series against the Rockets.

At one point, Doncic gingerly took two right-handed drills while shuffling to his right side before shooting a jump shot inside the free throw arc.

He did this three times before repeating the drill on his left side.

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Later in the session, took standstill 3-pointers.

Coach JJ Redick said before Tuesday’s Game 2 win over the Rockets that there wasn’t an update on the timeline for Doncic or fellow injured star guard Austin Reaves, adding that Doncic was going to start court work “soon”.

Reaves has been seen doing court work over the last week.

Doncic (Grade 2 left hamstring strain) and Reaves (Grade 2 left oblique strain) both suffered regular season-ending injuries in the April 2 loss to the Thunder.

The Lakers are up 2-0 in their playoff series over the Rockets.

Since the NBA moved to a 16-team playoff format in 1984, teams that go up 2-0 in a series under the 2-2-1-1-1 home/away pattern have a 245-23 record (91.4% winning percentage of the series).

“LeBron [James] is making it very known not to get comfortable,” Deandre Ayton said. “And JJ as well, don’t get too complacent. This is the playoffs, anything can happen, man. We want to handle business just like how we handled business here at home. And [keep] everything solid. We take the stuff we did in the lab over there to Houston.”

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