OKLAHOMA CITY — The last time the Lakers were in Oklahoma City, Luka Doncic’s regular season ended because of a Grade 2 left hamstring strain he suffered in the April 2 loss to the Thunder.
More than a month later, Doncic reaffirmed his desire to return during the playoffs.
When speaking with media on Wednesday morning, Lakers star Luka Doncic confirmed that he plans to return for the NBA playoffs. Getty ImagesDoncic told reporters the update on Wednesday during a media availability in between Tuesday’s Game 1 loss to the Thunder and Thursday’s Game 2 of the best-of-seven second-round playoff series.
“Obviously, this is a different injury than I ever had,” said Doncic, who was sidelined for four games in February because of a mild left hamstring injury. “It’s been [the] second time I [injured the hamstring this season]. So recovery has been a little longer. But I’m feeling good. Working every day, so I’m trying to come back.”
Originally, the injury was expected to have a recovery timeline of four to six weeks, but Doncic said he was told eight weeks.
Thursday marks five weeks since the injury happened. Eight weeks from Doncic’s injury is May 28 — which is 10 days after a potential Game 7 of a Lakers-Thunder series.
Doncic started running on the injured hamstring, the next step in his return-to-play protocol.
“It’s very frustrating,” Doncic said. “I don’t think people understand how frustrating it is. All I wanna do is play basketball, especially this time. It’s the best time to play basketball. It’s very frustrating seeing what my team is doing. I’m very proud of them. It’s been very tough, too, just to sit and watch them play.”
Right after the injury happened, Doncic traveled to Spain for advanced treatment aimed at accelerating recovery. He received four PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injections.
“Everybody knows that Spain, they’re just one of the best countries to do that,” Doncic said. “And obviously, I talked with the Lakers’ doctors, so everybody agreed for me to go there. Obviously, I know and trust lots of people from Spain that I used to work before. But why I was in Spain so long is because I needed four days in between every shot. So I did it four times. So that’s why I stayed longer.”
When asked about the PRP injections potentially expediting his recovery, Doncic responded: “I’m just in the process, I’m working every day. I feel better every day. Like I said, in the beginning they say eight weeks. So we just go from there.”
Game 3 and Game 4 of the Lakers-Thunder series are scheduled Saturday and Monday at Crypto.com Arena.
Doncic didn’t have a concrete answer when asked if he’d try to ramp things up when the series shifts to Los Angeles.
“I’m just doing everything I can,” he said. “Every day I’m doing stuff I’m supposed to do. Obviously recovery, now I’m working. But like I said, doctor said eight weeks at the beginning of the first MRI. Just going day by day, and I feel better every day.”
Doncic had an incredible season before suffering the hamstring strain April 2. He became the second player in NBA history to score 600-plus points in March, alongside Michael Jordan. Over that period, he led the Lakers on a 16-2 run.
“We had an amazing month of March,” Doncic said. “The injury came in the worst moment probably for me. But I think other guys just stepped up really good. But it was very frustrating for me.”
Yet he wasn’t even an MVP finalist this season despite leading the league in scoring (33.5 points), finishing third in assists (8.3) and sixth in steals (1.6).
It’s a tough break for Doncic, who came into training camp in arguably the best shape of his career. Motivated by the shocking trade that sent him to Hollywood from Dallas, he carried the Lakers to fourth place in the West after playing in 64 games and averaging 35.8 minutes per game.
Without Doncic, the Lakers shocked the Rockets in six games to advance to the Western Conference semifinals against the defending champions.
“Everybody had us out; everybody had us [losing in] five, six games, and we proved it,” Doncic said. “We can play. The way everybody stepped up is truly amazing to see. So hopefully they continue that.”
Despite limiting reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to 18 points and getting an incredible game from LeBron James, the Lakers suffered a 108-90 loss in Game 1.
“When you play against the world champions and [miss] having a guy that averages 34 [points] and eight [rebounds] and nine [assists] and is that special, that’s [tough],” James said regarding the Lakers missing Doncic.
With Doncic on his way back, the Lakers could return to full strength with James and Austin Reaves and have a legitimate chance at pulling off one of the biggest postseason upsets of the decade.
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“Obviously, we always want to have Luka out there,” Reaves said Sunday. “He’s one of the best players in the league, if not the best player. It’s definitely a different task. Everyone has to play differently to create and fill the void of the things he does for us.”
