During the Los Angeles Lakers' 119-109 [loss to the Golden State Warriors](https://lakeshowlife.com/los-angeles-lakers-luka-doncic-took-one-game-learn-painful-lesson-golden-state-warriors-lebron-james-austin-reaves) in the regular season opener on Tuesday night, Luka Doncic was seen repeatedly grabbing the inside of his right thigh near the adductor or groin area. Doncic finished the game with 43 points, but it was this seemingly minute observation that has fans and analysts alike rightfully concerned.
After the game, Luka insisted that it was "probably nothing," and pretty quickly moved past the topic. However, on social media, some informed minds had other thoughts. This from Dr. Evan Jeffries on X: "Unfortunately Luka Doncic has not looked the same since a couple of mins ago. Continues to grab his right adductor (groin). Big concern moving forward."
You can try to move past something like this and make a blanket statement that it won't matter in the big picture, but the reality is we don't know that to be true. Anytime you're talking about a player who is the centerpiece of your team like Luka Doncic who has certainly had his share of injury troubles over the years, fans have a right to be concerned.
Luka Doncic appeared to be nursing a sore adductor or groin muscle
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And really, it's more about the nature of this particular injury than it is just about him having an injury concern in general. A groin or adductor issue can be very tricky to deal with. As someone who has dealt with this injury myself, I can tell you that it can get a bit complicated if not dealt with properly.
But don't take my word for it. Other high profile players in this league have seen this muscle group derail their availability for weeks on end. A muscle strain in this area of the body can go deep into the muscle fibers, and may take several rounds of either massage therapy, needling, or other forms of physical therapy before it's fully sorted out.
On the surface, it's easy to see why an outing like Tuesday night's would have the Lakers fanbase excited. Luka just went out and scored 40 points in his first game of the season, and he clearly wasn't even at his best down the stretch. But that's also the same reason why the coaching staff and medical staff are going to have to monitor him extremely closely from here on out.
The [expectations for this franchise](https://lakeshowlife.com/luka-doncic-subtly-reaffirms-long-term-commitment-to-the-lakers-jj-redick) are arguably higher than they've been at any point since the 2020 championship. Doncic's talent and grit to play through something like this are commendable, but until he's fully healthy, the worries are going to persist.