Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers sustained an awkward injury that is still giving him pain after the team’s 129-99 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, January 28. Roughly eight minutes into the first quarter, the Slovenian point guard attempted a three-point shot that caused him to hop several times on his left foot near the Lakers’ side of the bench. However, he forgot that the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse arena has an elevated court and slipped as his foot went over the edge, causing his ankle to twist. The 26-year-old was forced to limp to the locker room, but returned to the court later in the quarter. Still, Doncic is still concerned about the injury.
Doncic’s ankle injury still lingers after Lakers-Cavaliers game
In a postgame media conference, Luka Doncic reacted to a replay of the shot that caused his ankle injury and said that he was “lucky” that it wasn’t worse.
“I kind of got scared,” he said, via Lakers reporter Khobi Price on X (formerly Twitter). “It wasn’t a great feeling, and looking back, I got a little bit lucky. It hurts more now, but I tried to go.”
After sustaining the injury, Doncic was reminded of a similar incident in 2023 when Dru Smith, the Miami Heat guard, had suffered an ACL injury that ended his season when he also attempted a three-point shot but landed near the bench area around the edge of the elevated court.
“That’s the first thing I thought,” Doncic shared. “That’s why I got scared. It’s the only court that’s like this, so I guess it’s my fault, so I stopped jumping like that.”
While the point guard was able to return to the court for the remainder of the game, it was clear that Doncic was still bothered by the injury. He was still able to score 29 points, with five rebounds and six assists. However, the 30-point gap in the final score was the worst loss the Lakers have had throughout the season.
He admitted, “I tried to go. Obviously, wasn’t 100 percent. But I tried.”
“I feel like everybody was a little low energy,” he continued. “Those games are gonna come, but we gotta be way better than that.”
It’s unclear at this point in time how severe Doncic’s lower leg injury is. The Lakers have yet to submit its latest injury report, as of 11:45 AM ET on January 29, so fans are holding their breath as the player could miss the Lakers’ next game against the Washington Wizards on Friday, January 30.
So far this season, Doncic has sustained four injuries with most of them causing him to miss a few games. This includes a couple of finger injuries in late October and early November, a leg injury in late December, and a lower back injury in mid-January. Doncic recently admitted that he has been dealing with a lingering soreness near his groin and inner thigh too.
NBA injury insider Dr. Evan Jeffries shared on X that Doncic could have sustained a “possible ankle injury (sprain or impingement)” due to the elevated court and wondered why there’s still an elevated court in the NBA.
Likewise, Lakers head coach JJ Redick criticized the court design of the Cavaliers arena after the game, stating that it has been a hazard for many seasons, per Heavy.
“There’s been a number of injuries over the years in this building because of the floor,” the coach explained. “It is absolutely a safety hazard, and I don’t know why it’s still like that.”
That said, he’s not hopeful that anything will change in the court’s design. “You can lodge formal complaints,” he said, “but a lot of times you don’t see any change when you lodge a formal complaint.”
