The playoff prospects of the LA Lakers just took a major blow when it was announced that Luka Doncic would be out for the rest of the regular season due to a grade 2 hamstring strain. Now, fans are wondering how long the six-time All-Star will be sidelined, given that the Lakers have started pivoting from a LeBron James-centric team to a Doncic-led squad.
According to sources like the Raleigh Medical Group and Excel Sports & PT, the recovery time for grade 2 hamstring injuries ranges from four to eight weeks. This suggests that, at best, Doncic can return at the tail end of the Lakers’ first-round series, provided that the purple and gold squad will be able to extend the series to six or seven games.
On the other hand, the worst-case scenario would be Doncic missing out on the Lakers’ playoff run this year if the team finds itself on the wrong end of a sweep.
With the way that the playoff picture is shaping up, the Lakers appear to be heading towards another collision course with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who eliminated them in five games last year. That gentleman’s sweep happened despite the presence of both James and Doncic in the lineup.
Aside from this, Doncic is in danger of becoming ruled ineligible for major awards like NBA MVP and All-NBA selection. The Slovenian star has played just 64 regular season games thus far, and if he sits out the remainder of the Lakers’ regular season slate, he’ll fall one game short of meeting the 65-game minimum for awards eligibility.
Luka Doncic’s Agent Announces Plan to File Appeal For 6x All-Star to Remain Awards-Eligible
Shortly after ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the injury update on Luka Doncic, Charania tweeted that Doncic’s agent Bill Duffy will be taking steps to salvage Doncic’s eligibility status.
“To ensure that Luka’s incredible accomplishments this season are rightly honored and he can be considered for the league’s end-of-season awards, we intend to apply for an ‘Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge’ to the 65-game rule,” Duffy wrote in a statement.
Duffy also pointed out that a two-game absence by Doncic in late 2025 was due to the circumstances of his daughter’s birth in Slovenia.
