Luka Doncic went down with a hamstring injury during the third quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers' contest against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. 

He did not return to the game and it was reported the following day that Doncic would miss the rest of the regular season. 

Luka has played in 64 games this season, putting him one game short of the NBA's 65-game rule that is required for players to be eligible for season awards and team nominations. 

Luka is leading the league in scoring, was a top four candidate for the MVP trophy, and was a lock for first-team All-NBA. 

Falling one game short of the 65-game rule despite a clear award-worthy season has understandably upset Luka, his team, and fans. 

Doncic’s agent Bill Duffy of WME Basketball released a statement regarding the 65-game rule and Luka's candidacy. 

The statement said, "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. Luka missed two games this season for the birth of his second child in Slovenia. His daughter was born on Dec. 4 on another continent, and yet he was back in the United States competing with his team on Dec. 6."

The statement concluded with Doncic's agent saying they look forward to working with the NBAPA and league office to ensure a fair outcome. 

The "Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge" states that it would be unjust to exclude a player from awards if they had to miss regular-season games that they would have played in due to extraordinary circumstances. 

While there is no official language on what "extraordinary circumstances" are, Luka's team implies that missing two games for the birth of his daughter would be extraordinary circumstances, as he would have been able to play in both of those games. Had he played in both games, he would have hit a total of 66 games played this year. 

The 65-game rule was implemented in the 2023-24 season to try and curb load management. The theory was that teams wouldn't willingly rest players if they had to hit a certain games played requirement, but it's brought about more questions than solutions. 

The injury to Luka put his award status in question, as did injuries to Anthony Edwards and Cade Cunningham, both of whom likely would have made an All-NBA team if not for the rule. 

For those asking if Luka can start a game, foul immediately, and then check out to hit the requirement, the answer is no. A player must play at least 20 minutes for it to count.