Luka Doncic's Hamstring Injury Puts MVP Bid in Jeopardy

Luka Doncic’s night, and possibly his season, took a dark turn on Thursday in the Los Angeles Lakers’ blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder when the star suffered a strained left hamstring. The injury shouldn’t affect their playoff hopes, with the Lakers already clinching their berth, but it may have a great impact off the court in costing Doncic his shot at his first MVP award. Doncic first appeared to tweak the hamstring late in the first half of the loss but was cleared to return out of halftime. He went down midway through the third quarter after planting his left leg and gingerly walked off the court. Coach JJ Redick said that he’ll undergo an MRI Friday.

The implications are major for Doncic, as Thursday was Doncic’s 64th game – one game shy of the 65-game threshold to qualify for end-of-season awards. There is an injury exception for players who reach 62 games but have played in at least 85% of their team’s games at the time of the season-ending injury. Doncic is short at 83%. In addition, the hamstring injury would need to qualify as “season ending” per the CBA guidelines to trigger the exception. Not just that, but his case was being made alongside reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who dominated the contest with 28 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.

Here is the full story from Lakers Roundtable writer Jack Haslett on the flaws revealed in the loss and the big picture with Doncic’s injury.

In Doncic’s absence, Los Angeles is 7-6. They were routed by OKC in a 139-96 defeat. On the bright side, their postseason is secured as they’re third in the West with a 50-27 record, and they also own tiebreakers over the chasing Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, and Minnesota Timberwolves. But those playoff dreams certainly include Doncic in the picture to have a real shot. As LeBron James put it, “health is wealth,” and while he hopes the extra week of rest brings back Doncic before the playoffs, he’s confident in the team’s resolve.