LOS ANGELES - Luka Doncic missed the Los Angeles Lakers' last four games before NBA All-Star Weekend with a hamstring injury. Doncic initially suffered the injury during the first half of the Lakers' win against the Philadelphia 76ers on February 5, and was ultimately ruled out of the second half.
Ahead of the Lakers' game against the Dallas Mavericks just before NBA All-Star Weekend, head coach JJ Redick remained optimistic that Luka Doncic can return from injury after the break. And during his All-Star media availability session on Saturday, Doncic acknowledged that he is feeling good in terms of getting back on the court and getting ready for the All-Star Game on Sunday.
"I'm feeling pretty good. I'm working to get back," Doncic said. "Obviously I wanted to play the last game, but it wasn't possible. I was almost there. So I think I'll play a little bit."
Doncic was not named to the All-Star team last season, breaking a streak of five consecutive selections. This will be Doncic's first time being an All-Star as a member of the Lakers. He will be part of Team World in the NBA's new format that will feature three teams in a round-robin tournament.
During the first half of the regular season, Doncic has been one of the top candidates for the NBA's MVP award. Doncic has never won the award before, with his highest performance coming during 2023–24, when he led the league in scoring and finished No. 3 in the voting last fall.
Doncic currently leads the league in scoring with 32.8 points for the second time in his career. He has appeared in 42 games in just over 35 minutes per game. In addition to his points, he averaged 7.8 rebounds, 8.6 assists and 1.5 steals, including shooting 47.3 percent from the field, 34.5 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 78.1 percent shooting from the free-throw line. Doncic also leads the NBA in free-throw attempts at 10.9 per game.
After the All-Star break, Doncic's first chance to return to the Lakers' lineup is on February 20 against the LA Clippers.
