The Los Angeles Lakers are currently on an Eastern Conference road trip. After defeating the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night on a last-second buzzer-beater from Rui Hachimura, they traveled to Boston for a matchup at TD Garden against the Celtics, where they were dominated from start to finish while missing both Luka Doncic and LeBron James.
James sat out due to a back-to-back and is still managing the sciatica that kept him out at the start of the season. Doncic, meanwhile, had missed the last two games for personal reasons.
On Saturday morning, he announced from Slovenia, alongside his fiancee Anamarie, that they had welcomed their second daughter into the world.
Doncic, 26, met his fiancée when they were just 12 years old during a vacation in Croatia. The couple got engaged in July 2023 - a date reflected in Doncic's No. 77 jersey, which marks the month and day of his proposal.
While the wedding has yet to take place, their long history together meant Doncic flew to Slovenia to be present for the birth of their second daughter. This made it difficult for him to return in time for Friday's game, the second half of the Lakers' back-to-back.
Head coach JJ Redick noted after Thursday's win that there is no set timeline for Doncic's return, though many expect he could be back for Sunday's matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers - a significant boost for the 16-6 Lakers, who have leaned heavily on Austin Reaves in the absence of both Doncic and LeBron James.
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