Luka Doncic is going experimental as he attempts to return to the lineup as soon as humanly possible.
The Los Angeles Lakers star Doncic was diagnosed last week with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. He suffered the injury during a humiliating loss on Thursday to the Oklahoma City Thunder (see the video here).
On Sunday though, we learned that Doncic was seeking specialized treatment in Europe in the wake of his injury. The hope for Doncic is that he will somehow be able to return to play ahead of the usual roughly 4-to-6 weeks that it takes to recover from a hamstring strain of that nature.
Shams Charania of ESPN appeared Monday on “NBA Today” and shared the details about Doncic’s unusual treatment plan. Charania reported that Doncic was in Spain undergoing an injection procedure to promote healing in his hamstring (but noted that it was unclear if the treatment would actually work in speeding up Doncic’s timeline).
The No. 3 seed Lakers now have less than one week to go in the regular season before the playoffs officially start on Apr. 18. There is obviously significant risk when it comes to rushing back from a hamstring injury in particular, but Doncic is clearly comfortable with taking that risk in an effort to contribute to his team during the postseason.
In the meantime though, the Lakers are just one game away from falling to the No. 5 seed with four games left to play. With fellow L.A. star Austin Reaves also nursing a fresh 4-to-6-week absence of his own right now, it remains to be seen if Doncic’s gamble will even be worth it in the end.
