Luka Doncic injury update: Lakers star leaves game vs. Thunder after non-contact issue

Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic left Thursday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder with an apparent non-contact injury. He reached for his hamstring before staying down on the court for some time and later walked slowly under his own power.

Doncic pulled up with 7:39 to go in the third quarter while dribbling into the paint. He immediately grabbed his left hamstring then went to the ground in visible pain.

As he got up, Doncic was clearly emotional as he walked off the court. At the time of his departure, Doncic had 12 points, four rebounds and seven assists in 26 minutes as the Lakers struggled mightily, trailing the Thunder 90-58.

As the fourth quarter began, the Lakers announced Doncic would not return and confirmed he suffered a hamstring injury. The news came as Los Angeles faced a 112-67 deficit entering the final 12 minutes of Thursday’s game.

“I just got official word that it is a left hamstring injury for Luka Doncic,” Prime Video sideline reporter Cassidy Hubbarth said on the broadcast. “He will obviously not return to tonight’s game, but it’s something to monitor going forward, especially for the end-of-year awards and the Lakers’ placing here in the Western Conference.”

Luka Doncic putting together MVP-caliber year

Luka Doncic is in the midst of a career year during his first full season in Los Angeles. He came over from the Dallas Mavericks in the blockbuster trade last season, which sent Anthony Davis to Dallas in exchange for the star forward. Heading into Thursday’s game, Doncic was averaging 33.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.3 rebounds to put himself in the MVP conversation.

But Doncic took the same approach as usual when asked about the MVP race. He didn’t want to campaign for himself, though he acknowledged his strong performance last month. He topped 600 points in March, becoming the 10th player to score that many points in a single calendar month.

“I never did that [in the past],” Doncic said, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I’m not the one voting. … But I think I’ve been playing pretty good. We’ve been winning. So that’s it. That’s all I got to say.”

However, if the injury is serious enough to keep him out the rest of the season, Doncic will not be eligible for postseason awards. The NBA instituted a 65-game limit for players to be up for those honors, including MVP and All-NBA teams. Thursday’s matchup with the Thunder marked Doncic’s 64th game of the season.