The Los Angeles Lakers had about as brutal a weekend as an NBA team could face, learning that both Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic will be out for the rest of the regular season due to various injuries. It was recently reported that Doncic will be traveling to Europe to explore alternative treatment options in an attempt to be back for the playoffs, per Shams Charania and Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
Fans are understandably a bit perplexed about what exactly that process might entail, and on Monday, sports doctor Evan Jeffries attempted to shed some light on the situation.
“Luka Doncic will seek medical treatment in Europe for his Grade II (Partial tear) Hamstring Strain. Likely means he is getting treatment that is not offered in USA. IF this cuts his healing time in half (4-6 weeks), theoretically he COULD be back in 2-3 weeks in time for the 1st round of the playoffs. Is Luka willing to risk further injury for the Lakers….. Seems like something Kobe would do,” wrote Jeffries on X, formerly Twitter.
Indeed, the late Lakers icon Kobe Bryant became known during his playing days for pulling out all the stops in order to preserve his body in the late stages of his NBA career, and Lakers fans are certainly hoping that whatever treatment Doncic chooses to undergo overseas will work wonders and have him back in a couple of weeks, when the playoffs begin.
The Lakers got their first glimpse of a non-Doncic and Reaves version of their team on Sunday night, and the results weren't pretty, as the team allowed the Dallas Mavericks to pick up their first home win in over two months.
Los Angeles will next hit the floor on Tuesday for a tough game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
