They Won't Let It Slide: Luka Dončić's Legal Team to Seek Exemption – Because of His Daughter!
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Just after midnight, Serbian time, on Friday night into Saturday, the Los Angeles Lakers confirmed that Luka Dončić will miss the remainder of the NBA regular season.
According to Shams Charania, the exact duration of Dončić's absence is unknown, with no precise return timeline, and his participation in the first round of the playoffs is also in question.
To reiterate, the Slovenian sustained a Grade 2 hamstring strain, an injury that typically requires four to six weeks for recovery.
While less critical at this moment, Dončić will not reach the 65 games played threshold, making him ineligible for the MVP award and selection to one of the three All-NBA teams. However, should he fall short by just one game, Luka's agent, Bill Duffy, announced that the Slovenian superstar's legal team will seek to have two games he missed in December, due to the birth of his second daughter and a brief trip to Slovenia, not counted against him.
This season, Luka Dončić is playing at a historic level, leading the league in scoring and guiding the Lakers, who are currently third in the Western Conference. This has placed him in one of the most intense MVP races. To ensure Luka's achievements are fairly recognized, we intend to request an "unusual circumstances challenge." Luka missed two games due to the birth of his second child in Slovenia. His daughter was born on December 4th, and he was back in the US by December 6th to rejoin the team. A season in which he broke numerous records deserves to be etched in the history books, despite an unfortunate injury and other unusual circumstances. We look forward to collaborating with the players' association and league officials to ensure the only fair outcome in this situation. - Bill Duffy
Dončić has played in 64 of the Lakers' 77 games, which is just over 83%.
Luka was also suspended for one game, which he served this week due to accumulating too many technical fouls, a decision that now appears incredibly significant. If only he hadn't received that technical...
If Dončić fails to qualify, he will join Cunningham, Anthony Edwards, and a host of other high-profile players deemed ineligible for consideration by the media members who comprise the voting body for awards — an extremely rare scenario where a player can lead the league in scoring but cannot be recognized as one of its top 15 players.
A much greater concern than the MVP award is where the Lakers will finish the season. They are currently third, which is very good, but it seems difficult for them to win without Luka.
The Lakers hold a 43-21 record (67.2% win rate) with Dončić in the lineup, and just 7-6 (53.8%) without him. Four of those seven wins came against struggling Kings, Mavericks, Wizards, and injury-depleted Warriors teams.
Opponents outscored them by 2 points per 100 possessions (outside of "garbage-time" periods) when Dončić was off the court, according to Cleaning the Glass, with an offense that ranked among the league's 10 worst during those minutes — even when both LeBron James and Austin Reaves were available to shoulder the offensive load.
NBA League Standings
Video: Dončić playing the basketball of his life: The Slovenian drops 43 points for another Lakers victory!
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