Luka Doncic provided an update Wednesday on his Grade 2 left hamstring strain, telling reporters that he wants to return at some point during the playoffs but still doesn’t have a definitive timeline, writes Khobi Price of The California Post.
“Obviously this is a different injury than I ever had,” Doncic said. “It’s been 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.”
Doncic strained the same hamstring in February, causing him to miss four games and limiting his playing time in the All-Star Game.
The Lakers haven’t provided much information on Doncic’s injury since it occurred nearly five weeks ago in an April 2 contest. There were media estimates that he would need four to six weeks to recover, but Doncic said doctors told him it would likely take eight weeks.
He has been able to start running, but hasn’t been cleared for contact, which is a significant step before he can consider returning to action.
“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, to, just to sit and watch them play.”
Doncic confirmed that he went to Spain shortly after the injury occurred to undergo advanced treatment in hopes of speeding up the recovery process. That included four PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injections, which resulted in an extended time away from the team.
“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.”
The injury may have prevented Doncic from becoming an MVP finalist, as he put up incredible numbers during his first full season in L.A. He led the league in scoring at 33.5 points per game, while finishing third in assists at 8.3 and sixth in steals at 1.6. However, he only appeared in 64 regular season games and had to get a ruling from the league that made him award eligible due to “extraordinary circumstances.”
Doncic scored more than 600 points in March while leading the Lakers to a 16-2 record that had them in line to be the No. 3 seed in the West. However, they slipped to fourth in his absence and are now in the midst of a daunting second-round matchup with Oklahoma City.
LeBron James admitted that the team was at a severe disadvantage without Doncic during Tuesday’s Game 1 loss.
“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.
