Luka Doncic injury update, Doncic return timeline, Los Angeles Lakers injury report, Lakers Christmas Day game, Luka Doncic Jordan Brand shoes, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton
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After the latest injury update on a potential Christmas Day return timeline for Luka Doncic, the Los Angeles Lakers star announced big news.
Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers has proven to be one of the most impactful offensive players the NBA has ever seen through the first eight seasons of his career.
Throughout most of his time in the league, Doncic hasbeen signed with Jordan Brand, one of many top-tier athletes to partner with MichaelJordan’s legendary shoe company. Now, Doncic and Jordan Brand just dropped his new ‘Luka 5‘shoes.
The video posted announcing the news featured Doncicwriting a letter about being a ‘bad man,‘with his new shoes as an apology gift. The video featured former NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, former player Boban Marjanovic, and an actor posing as a referee, all of whom were given the shoes as a gift.
B/R Kicks
.@Jumpman23 officially unveiled the Jordan Luka 5, @lukadoncic’s 5th signature sneaker with the brand 👟
The release of the new sneakers was marked with the tagline, ‘Bad Luka! Nice Shoes‘.The news ofDoncic’s next iteration of his signature shoes comes at the same time he holds an uncertain status for theLakers’ upcoming Christmas Day game against the Houston Rockets.
Luka Doncic Injury Update For Christmas Day
The Slovenian recently suffered a left calf contusion in their loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, going out for the rest of the contest, but being described as ‘day-to-day‘by the team afterwards. Doncic ended up sitting out of theLakers’ most recent loss to the Phoenix Suns, clouding his status for their Christmas Day matchup against the Rockets.
On Tuesday, Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported that the Lakers are targeting a return for Doncic on Christmas,as long as he feelsgood enough to play.
Oh No He Didn't
“There’s still a very real possibility that he feels good enough to go against the Rockets” – @mcten on Luka’s status for Xmas
“He missed some time earlier this season with the lower left leg injury,”McMenamin said Tuesday onNBA Today. “They’re saying this is just a bruise, and sothey’re going to be working on some sort of wrap, or perhaps padding that Luka can wear on the leg to protect from things like the knee that he took from Bogdanović in theClippers game moving forward, butthere’s still a possibility — a very real possibility — that he feels good enough to go Thursday against the Rockets.”
But more recently, McMenamin reported that Lakers head coach JJ Redick described Doncic as ‘doing fine.‘As mentioned, Doncic has already missed time this season with lower-body injuries, sitting out a few games early in the year with a similar injury, and with his extreme impact he brings to the table, he would likely only suit up if the team feels heisn’t at risk for re-aggravating the calf injury.
So far this year, Doncic is putting up the best numbers of his career. He leads the league in scoring at 34.1 points per game, while also dropping an average of 8.6 rebounds, 8.8 assists, and 1.6 steals on 45.8% shooting. Despite some describing Doncic as having ‘emptystats’ this season, theLakers’ struggles in the two games without him are a clear indicator of his importance to the team.
Lakers Injury Concerns
Though Doncic currently highlights theLakers’ injury report, heisn’t there alone.So far this season, despite having a fully healthy roster at multiple times through the first two monthsof the season, Los Angeles has seen a large majority oftheir players miss timewith health concerns.
Austin Reaves has been the biggest name out for the Lakers before Doncicwas sidelined. He missed three games with a calf strain, but after being day-to-day, he suited up in their recent loss to the Suns. Reaves finished with 17 points, two rebounds, and two assists in 22 minutes while coming off the bench for the first time this season, but at least having him back is a good sign for Los Angeles.
The team also got back Deandre Ayton in the game against Phoenix, as he missed the previous two contests with a sore elbow, finishing the night with his 11th double-double of the year.
Additionally, the Lakers also have Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes, and Gabe Vincent featured on their injury report. McMenamin stated that Hachimura and Vincent willbe reevaluated before their Christmas Day game versus Houston. Both of the big men are currently listed as day-to-day, as the former has now missed two games, and the latter left the game against the Suns with left ankle soreness.
If the Lakers have a fully healthy roster, their performance on the court will likely look much different than their showing on Tuesday night. But for now,they’ll have to sit and wait for an update on Doncic and the other injuredsupporting cast.