Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers
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Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers officially ruled out star guard Luka Doncic on Thursday for the team’s finale before hitting the All-Star weekend right there in Los Angeles. While we know that Doncic won’t be facing the Mavericks, we do not know whether he will be on the floor on Sunday, when the new-look NBA All-Star game will take place at Intuit Done in Inglewood.
Doncic injured his hamstring on February 5 against the Sixers, and the Lakers dodged a potential disaster when it turned out that his injury was just a mild strain and not something worse. Still, hamstrings are notoriously fickle, so it is an injury that has been coddled thus far, with Doncic missing four games.
But is it bad enough for Doncic to miss the signature event of the weekend in L.A.? When he was injured, the high end of his timeline for return was 10 days, and Sunday happens to be the 10th day since Doncic’s injury. Will he play in the All-Star Game or continue to rest?
Luka Doncic Could Make a ‘Token’ Appearance in the NBA All-Star Game
That was the question put to ESPN beat reporter Dave McMenamin, who said the Lakers star feels some obligation to appear in the game because he was the leading vote-getter in the fan balloting.
McMenamin harkened back to 2008, when Kobe Bryant suffered a minor injury just before the game, was introduced as a starter, played 2:52, then sat out the rest of the way.
Here’s McMenamin: “The mild strain that he has in his hamstring usually comes with a diagnosis for rehab and recovery of about seven-to-10 days. So, that time period puts him right up against this weekend and Sunday’s All-Star Game. I am told he considered it a great honor that he was the leading vote-getter for the first time in his eight-year career, amassing more than eight million ballots.
“We’ve seen a situation like this before, I covered Kobe Bryant in the 2008 All-Star game, he dislocated his pinky finger just before the All-Star game. He ended up playing three minutes in the game just as a kind of token appearance as a thank you to the fans. Perhaps that would be what we get from Luka on Sunday if he doesn’t feel fully recovered with that hamstring.”
Lakers Also Have LeBron James in the Game
The other Lakers to watch on Sunday will be LeBron James, who has taken a backseat in recent All-Star games and will likely do the same this time around. James is 41, of course, and missed last year’s game after playing 14:25 in 2023. This will be his 22nd All-Star game selection.
“LeBron will be at the All-Star Game, he hasn’t played as much in recent years—last year he didn’t play at all because of a foot injury,” McMenamin said. “The two years prior he only played 15 minutes or so. I would expect him to be playing, certainly unless something happens tonight against Dallas, but not him playing a full gamut of minutes.
“But getting out there, playing in L.A.”