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Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) reacts after being hit in the stomach area by Milwaukee Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr. (7) last in the fourth quarter at Crypto.com Arena on January 9, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
The Los Angeles Lakers‘ injury issues are no longer quietly eroding their depth. They’re now hitting at the very top of the roster.
Concerns around the health of Luka Doncic have been building in recent weeks, and those concerns intensified on Friday when the team announced that the Slovenian star will miss Saturday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers due to left groin soreness.
Doncic had appeared on the injury report in recent games while still playing, but the Lakers’ decision to sit him out suggests the issue has escalated beyond a minor inconvenience.
DeAndre Ayton (left knee soreness) and Jaxson Hayes (left hamstring tendinopathy) also feature on the injury report. Austin Reaves remains out (left calf strain), while rookie Adou Thiero continues to recover from a right MCL sprain.
Against Portland, the Lakers could be operating without multiple rotation pieces, including their offensive engine.
Lakers Monitoring Luka Doncic Injury Closely
Doncic is coming off a 39-point performance in Thursday’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets, adding three rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes. Despite the production, he’s been openly dealing with lingering discomfort over the past week.
“Yeah, I was really uncertain,” Doncic told reporters following Monday’s loss to the Sacramento Kings. “Before the game warming up, I felt something. I was just trying to get warm and get going. But tomorrow, we will see how I wake up.”
When ESPN’s Dave McMenamin pressed further on whether the issue was tied to his inner thigh or groin, the 26-year-old offered little clarity, saying it was “somewhere in there.”
That lack of specificity raised red flags, particularly given the difficulty of managing soft tissue injuries across a long season. At the time, it was unclear whether the discomfort was a minor flare up or something more serious.
Within 24 hours, Doncic appeared on the injury report ahead of the second night of a back-to-back against the Atlanta Hawks. Initially listed as questionable, he was later cleared to play and logged another heavy workload in a 141-116 blowout win.
He finished with 27 points, 12 assists, five rebounds, and five made three pointers in 33 minutes.
“I don’t know. For me, I want to play,” he said postgame, via Lakers Nation. “I obviously wasn’t feeling 100%, but in my head, I always want to play.”
He later added, “It’s a little bit worse than yesterday.”
Lakers Facing Risk-Reward Decision With Star Availability
Any extended absence from Doncic would significantly alter the Lakers’ short-term outlook. At the same time, continuing to push through discomfort risks turning a manageable issue into something far more disruptive.
This isn’t the first time the Lakers have had to navigate health concerns surrounding Doncic this season. He’s already dealt with a left finger sprain, a lower left leg contusion, and another leg-related issue that resurfaced in December, each forcing him to miss time.
Despite that, he continues to shoulder an enormous workload, averaging a league-high 33.6 points per game while playing the fourth-highest minutes load at 36.4 per night.
Earlier this month, Ashish Mathur of Lakers Daily reported that Doncic had been playing through significant discomfort, citing sources who described “a lot of pain” and lingering issues across multiple areas.
That report suggested his explosiveness and outside shooting had been affected despite extensive treatment.
Those claims were later disputed by Dan Woike of The Athletic, who indicated that his sources pushed back on the severity of that portrayal.
With the Lakers sitting near the bottom of the league in bench production and defensive metrics, the need for reinforcements is growing. That applies not only to overall roster balance, but to reducing the burden on both Doncic and LeBron James.
That urgency has only increased after eight losses in their past 13 games, dropping the Lakers to 24-15 and sixth in a crowded Western Conference.