Luka Dončić unlikely to return during Lakers’ second-round series against Thunder

OKLAHOMA CITY — Luka Dončić is unlikely to play in the Los Angeles Lakers’ second-round series against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. The star guard said Wednesday that the Grade 2 hamstring injury he suffered in early April initially came with an eight-week recovery timetable.

Even if the Lakers were to force a Game 7, it would still come less than seven weeks after the injury.

“The moment the day I did the MRI on the hamstring, the doctor told me eight weeks at the beginning,” Dončić said. “I’m doing everything I can in the process, and I think we’re on a good way. But at the beginning, he told me eight weeks.”

The update is the clearest timeline Dončić has publicly shared since suffering the injury. He did say he’s progressed to on-court running work but has not yet been cleared for contact.

Luka Dončić talks injury

Law Murray

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After the injury, Dončić traveled to Spain to undergo four different PRP (platelet-rich plasma) treatments in an attempt to return sooner. Dončić said there had to be four days between injections.

“Everybody knows that Spain — they’re just one of the best countries to do that,” said Dončić, who began his professional career with the Spanish club Real Madrid. “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.”

Dončić said he’s not targeting a specific game for his return.

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“I’m just in the process,” he said. “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.”

Dončić, speaking to the media for the first time since the injury, said the Lakers’ 15-2 March record before his absence convinced him that the Lakers had a championship-caliber roster.

“(I) still think that,” Dončić said. “But, we had an amazing month of March. 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.”

Dončić averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists in 64 games this season. Despite falling one game short of the 65-game eligibility threshold for end-of-season awards, he was ruled eligible because he missed two games in December to attend the birth of his second child in Slovenia.

It appears the Lakers will need to extend their season beyond the Western Conference semifinals to get Dončić back on the court.

“It’s very frustrating,” he said. “I think people … 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.”