Frustrated Luka Doncic breaks silence; doctors

OKLAHOMA CITY — With the Lakers down 1-0 in the Western Conference semifinals, Luka Doncic has not yet ramped up to on-court contact drills while recovering from an injured left hamstring that had an inital eight-week timeline for his return.

Doncic, talking to reporters for the first time since he hobbled off the court at Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center on April 2, said Wednesday he has improved enough to start working but he has not progressed to on-court contact drills. After struggling a left hamstring injury earlier this season, Doncic said the latest Grade 2 pressure to the same space is in contrast to any he’s skilled because of its severity.

But it has not stopped him from making an attempt to come back as soon as doable.

“I’m just doing everything I can,” Doncic said. “Every day I’m doing stuff I’m supposed to do. Obviously recovery, now I’m working … just going day by day, and I feel better every day.”

Soon after his injury, Doncic went to Spain and acquired platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections with hopes to help his recovery. He stayed for roughly two weeks because he needed to wait 4 days between each injection. He acquired 4 in complete.

Without their main scorer, the Lakers fought through a six-game, first-round sequence against the Houston Rockets, taking part in 4 of those video games without Austin Reaves, who was also injured in the same recreation as Doncic. The fourth-seeded Lakers misplaced 108-90 to the defending champion Thunder in Game 1 of the convention semifinals on Tuesday.

Doncic had dutifully cheered from the bench during the playoff video games, offering as a lot advice to his teammates as he can.

“It’s very frustrating,” Doncic said of the injury. “I don’t think people understand how frustrating it is. All I want to do is play basketball, especially at this time. It’s the best time to play basketball. It’s very frustrating seeing what my team is doing, I’m very proud of them. It’s been very tough just to see and watch them play.”

Doncic’s injury got here at “the worst moment,” he said. The Lakers had been coming off a magical March during which they went 15-2 and announced themselves as a potential championship contender with a healthy Doncic, Reaves and LeBron James together. Doncic was chosen Western Conference participant of the month after he joined Michael Jordan as the only gamers in NBA historical past to rating 600 factors during March.

After Doncic and Reaves had been injured, the Lakers shifted their focus to extending their season long enough for the main scorers to return. It labored for Reaves, who made a miraculous comeback from a Grade 2 left indirect muscle pressure at some point shy of 4 weeks. But the Lakers aren’t placing strain on Doncic to come back as rapidly.

“It’s very simple,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said of getting Doncic back and defending him from additional injury. “It’s ‘when he’s ready to play, he should play.’ That comes with the athlete having confidence. It’s no different from Austin.”

Doncic is 5 weeks into what doctors predicted was an eight-week timeline. Frustrated with lacking the most important half of the season, Doncic is also mindful of being cautious about his future.

“It’s a tough one for me because I came back from injuries before too soon, and it wasn’t the best result,” said Doncic, who fought through a calf injury last season that lasted for months and predicated his stunning commerce to the Lakers. “But like I say, this is the first time I have [this] hamstring injury.

“It’s not the same like other injuries. You have to be very careful, and I’m doing everything to come back. All the recovery, the chamber, cold tub, everything I can to come back, but it’s obviously very different than other injuries I had.”