When Los Angeles Lakers All-Star Luka Doncic suffered a hamstring injury in the third quarter of a 139-96 drubbing against the Oklahoma City Thunder, ESPN's Stephen A Smith questioned the severity of the injury. In what could cost Doncic NBA awards such as All-NBA honors as he's one-game shy of the 65-game minimum, the Lakers await the results of an MRI.
Doncic, who has scored 40+ points seven times over the past month, including a 60-point game in a 134-126 win against the Miami Heat, checked out of the game with a dozen points, seven assists, and four rebounds in 26 minutes. Doncic walked off the court in the third quarter, which was when Smith realized Luka was legitimately injured, he said, per ESPN's First Take.
“It was almost so that it's a good thing that Luka [Doncic] actually got hurt and had to get taken out in the third quarter because when we saw him holding his hamstring in the first half, a lot of us were like wait a minute now, that wasn't happening when you were dropping 30-plus the last 12, 13, 15 games,” Smith said. “But, suddenly, your hamstring hurts. We were looking at it with a raised eyebrow because an a** kicking will do that to you.
“It will make you humble. It will make you run for cover. It will make you want to run to the locker room. It will make you pretend you got to use the bathroom. It will make you pretend you have a family emergency just to get away from those confines.”
"It was almost so that it's a good thing that Luka [Doncic] actually got hurt and had to get taken out in the 3rd quarter because when we saw him holding his hamstring in the first half… We were looking at it with a raised eyebrow."
– Stephen A. Smithpic.twitter.com/lodKGu0Ozn
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 3, 2026
Austin Reaves finished with 15 points. LeBron James added 13 points, six rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal.
JJ Redick's Luka Doncic decision after injury in Lakers loss
Lakers head coach JJ Redick was minutes away from pulling Luka Doncic, who was checked out at halftime before suffering a strained hamstring. Redick says he gave Doncic a seven-minute window for the Lakers to cut into their 30+ point deficit.
Doncic sustained the injury within that timeframe, as Redick noted during his postgame media availability.
“We checked him out. He got work done, he was cleared,” Redick said. “Again, we're not going to put a player at risk. Those things happen.”
The Lakers will face the Mavericks on Sunday.
