The Los Angeles Lakers’ postseason plans took a massive hit on Friday when the team confirmed that superstar Luka Dončić will miss the remainder of the season.
The 27-year-old suffered a grade 2 left hamstring strain during the third quarter of Thursday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
This type of injury typically sidelines a player for at least a month, and with the NBA Playoffs set for April 18, the timing effectively ends Dončić’s run.
While the Lakers haven’t given a specific return date, the reality of the recovery window means he won’t be back for the bracket. In response to the early exit, his agent, Bill Duffy of WME Basketball, told ESPN he plans to file an “Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge” so Dončić can still be considered for end-of-season awards.
Outside of basketball, the injury comes during a heated legal battle between Dončić and his ex-fiancée, Anamaria Goltes. Dončić recently filed a motion to dismiss a child support petition Goltes submitted in Los Angeles, arguing that California has no jurisdiction over the matter.
Legal documents show that Dončić claims he, Goltes, and their two daughters, 2-year-old Gabriela and 3-month-old Olivia, are not residents of California and spend most of their time in Slovenia. He had already started family law proceedings in Slovenia back in February and believes Goltes filed in Los Angeles to “avail herself of the generous amounts of child support for which California is well-known.”
Despite the back-and-forth in court, Dončić’s representatives maintain that his focus is on his children. “Luka has always provided for anything his daughters could need or want and will continue to do so,” a spokesperson said on March 24. “He will always fight to be with his daughters and give them the best life possible. Luka is seeking dismissal of this case simply because Slovenia, not California, is the appropriate forum for adjudication of this dispute.”
