{"id":592548,"date":"2026-04-08T02:56:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T02:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/592548\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T02:56:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T02:56:07","slug":"should-luka-doncic-be-pushing-to-return-for-a-lakers-playoff-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/592548\/","title":{"rendered":"Should Luka Don\u010di\u0107 be pushing to return for a Lakers playoff run?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Lakers fans and fans across the country. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartsurvey.co.uk\/s\/8SCRL8\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up here<\/a> to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">After <a href=\"https:\/\/www.silverscreenandroll.com\/lakers-analysis\/112782\/lakers-luka-doncic-lebron-james-jj-redick-march-cavs-rob-pelinka\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">playing their best basketball<\/a> in years during March, there is little hope that the Lakers can do much of anything in the playoffs a week into April.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Being the competitor that he is, Luka is doing everything he can to expedite his return. In fact, he\u2019s gone to Spain to get <a href=\"https:\/\/www.silverscreenandroll.com\/lakers-injury-report\/113214\/lakers-injury-report-luka-doncic-hamstring-strain-europe-recovery-status-update\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cspecialized medical treatment\u201d<\/a> in hopes that he can speed up his recovery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">For our SB Nation Reacts survey this week, we are asking, what are your feelings on Luka trying to return for the playoffs?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">While his desire to play is commendable, it can make Lakers fans nervous to hear he\u2019s trying to shave days off his recovery time to come back sooner than most would after this injury.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Luka dealt with a hamstring strain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.silverscreenandroll.com\/lakers-injury-report\/107635\/lakers-injury-report-luka-doncic-hamstring-day-to-day-mild-status-update\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">earlier this season<\/a> which caused him to miss a handful of games before the All-Star Break. Now, he\u2019s hurt it again and it\u2019s even more severe. If he rushes back too early, it could end disastrously.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Don\u010di\u0107 most certainly thinks the Lakers have a chance at doing something special if he returns. But considering they\u2019ll likely be the fourth or fifth seed in the West and the Thunder have destroyed the Lakers each time they\u2019ve played, rushing back and risking more injury to lose anyway doesn\u2019t seem worth it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">If he\u2019s healthy, he should play. But if there is any feeling that he\u2019s pushing beyond what is normal, then the Lakers\u2019 medical staff has to protect their superstar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">So, what do you think? Does Luka heading to Europe in an attempt to return faster make you worried? Share your opinion by voting and letting us know down below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":592549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,72523,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-592548","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-lakers-analysis","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}