April 3, 2026Updated April 4, 2026, 1:36 a.m. ET
The Los Angeles Lakers, at the worst possible time, caught a bad break with their biggest star.
All-Star guard and Most Valuable Player candidate Luka Dončić, suffered a hamstring injury in a blowout loss Thursday, April 2 against the Thunder, potentially putting his award eligibility – and the Lakers’ dreams of a deep postseason run – in jeopardy.
Following an MRI Friday, April 3, the Lakers announced Dončić was diagnosed with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and will be out for the remainder of the regular season.
His status for the playoffs, which begin Saturday, April 18 following the NBA Play-In Tournament, is uncertain. The Lakers (50-27) have clinched the Pacific Division and are currently the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, one game ahead of the Denver Nuggets (49-28).
Thursday night’s game against Oklahoma City was Dončić’s 64th of the season, putting him one shy of the minimum required for consideration for MVP, All-NBA selection and other individual honors. Dončić needed to play in at least one of Los Angeles’ remaining five games to become eligible, though his agent told ESPN they would pursue an “Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge.”
Dončić finished Thursday’s game with 12 points on 3-of-10 shooting, including a sluggish 1-of-7 from 3-point range. He added 7 assists and 4 rebounds. The injury comes just days after he scored 600 points in March, marking just the 10th time in NBA history that a player has reached that level of production in any month.
What does Luka Doncic’s injury mean for his award status?
With Dončić now set to miss the remainder of the Lakers’ regular season, he will fall one game short of the 65-game threshold set by the NBA to be considered a candidate for awards, including Most Valuable Player and All-NBA. The league’s mandate, requiring players to participate in at least 65 games a season, was designed to keep teams from sitting star players who weren’t injured.
Dončić’s agent, Bill Duffy of WME Basketball, announced Friday afternoon in a statement to ESPN that the six-time All-Star will apply for an “Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge” to the 65-game rule.
“This season, Luka Dončić has performed at a historic level, leading the league in scoring, carrying the Lakers to third place in the Western Conference and placing himself in the middle of one of the most tightly contested MVP races in memory,” Duffy said in the statement. “To ensure that Luka’s incredible accomplishments this season are rightly honored and he can be considered for the league’s end-of-season awards, we intend to apply for an ‘Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge’ to the 65-game rule. Luka missed two games this season for the birth of his second child in Slovenia. His daughter was born on Dec. 4 on another continent, and yet he was back in the United States competing with his team on Dec. 6.”
What is the Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge?
The Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge provides a player an opportunity to seek an exception to the 65-game threshold from an independent arbiter. The language states:
A player “may be deemed eligible for the awards listed in that section if an independent expert (to be jointly selected by the NBA and the Players Association, determines, upon application by the player, that he should be deemed to have met the games played requirement because:
- “It was impracticable for the player to play in one or more game(s) that he missed due to extraordinary circumstances.
- “The player would have played in at least 65 Regular Season games if he had played in every game that he missed due to the extraordinary circumstances.
- “As a result of the extraordinary circumstances, and taking into account the totality of the circumstances (including whether the player did not play in other Regular Season games in which he could have played), it would be unjust to exclude the player from award eligibility.”
Reports: Luka Doncic travels with Lakers, getting MRI in Dallas
Dončić traveled to Dallas with the Lakers Friday, April 3, according to a report from ESPN’s Shams Charania, and will have an MRI on his leg there, in the city he used to call home, Charania said during a segment on ESPN. The Lakers play the Mavericks Sunday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. CT), with the game broadcast on NBC and Peacock.
What does Luka Doncic’s injury mean for the Lakers?
This comes as a significant blow for Los Angeles, which had gone 15-2 in March and had climbed to the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. With Thursday’s loss against the Thunder, however, L.A.’s hold of the third-seed over the Nuggets shrunk to just 1 game. Denver, meanwhile, is on a seven-game winning streak.
The Lakers have gone 7-6 this season in games Dončić has been sidelined and he has become the team’s premier and most reliable offensive force. In his absence, Austin Reaves and LeBron James will have to step up considerably.
If Dončić misses considerable time in the postseason, the team’s prospects of making a deep run become significantly compromised. Dončić is arguably the top scoring threat in the world, and his shot-making in the clutch would be missed sorely, especially as competition intensifies.
Los Angeles Lakers remaining schedule
- Sunday, April 5: at Dallas Mavericks
- Tuesday, April 7: vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
- Thursday, April 9: at Golden State Warriors
- Friday, April 10: vs. Phoenix Suns
- Sunday, April 12: vs. Utah Jazz
The NBA playoffs are set to tip off April 18.
NBA playoff standings: Western Conference
- Thunder 61-16
- Spurs 59-18 (2 games back)
- Lakers 50-27 (11 GB)
- Nuggets 49-28 (12 GB)
- Rockets 47-29 (13.5 GB)
- Timberwolves 46-30 (14.5 GB)
Luka Dončić stats
In 64 games this season, Dončić is averaging an NBA-high 33.5 points, with 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds per game.