6:32pm: The Mavericks are anticipating that Doncic will be sidelined for an “extended period of time,” report Shams Charnia and Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). According to ESPN, Doncic left the arena on crutches. He’s expected to undergo an MRI on Thursday to determine the severity of the injury.
4:09pm: Mavericks star Luka Doncic experienced a left calf strain late in the second quarter of Wednesday’s loss to Minnesota and was ruled out for the remainder of the contest, the team announced (via Twitter).
“It’s fine,” Doncic said. “Just trying to get through it. But today, it felt fine. After the first quarter (of Monday’s game), it felt better. Just getting warm. It felt fine. Will get through it.”
The 25-year-old was initially listed as probable with the heel issue before being upgraded to available for today’s game.
Doncic appeared to suffer the injury when he drove into the lane while being defended by Jaden McDaniels (Twitter video links). There was no contact to his left leg on the play. He was able to limp off the court on his own, albeit slowly, after the Mavs called a timeout.
As Tim Bontemps of ESPN tweets, Doncic has already missed eight games this season, so an extended absence would jeopardize his chances at earning All-NBA or MVP honors due to the 65-game rule. The Slovenian superstar has a history of calf injuries and has typically missed multiple weeks in those instances, notes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).
While it’s obviously unfortunate that Doncic was injured, even if he does end up missing too many games to qualify for major postseason awards, it won’t impact him much financially, as he already met the criteria for a super-max extension by making All-NBA teams each of the past two seasons, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Doncic, who has been named to the All-NBA First Team for five consecutive seasons, will officially become eligible for the Designated Veteran contract extension in the summer of 2025, after he completes his seventh season.
Through 21 games this season, Doncic was averaging 28.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 8.1 assists and a career-high 2.0 steals in 36.6 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .462/.348/.766.
With Doncic out for an unknown amount of time, Quentin Grimes and Spencer Dinwiddie are among the Mavericks who could receive more playing time and touches.
Luka may have come into this season in better shape, but the question is does he do enough of the little things necessary to better one’s odds of staying healthy? My guess is no.
So many lower body injuries for him over the last few years. None major, sure, but the frequency has to be a concern.
Well its not from jumping, lol
Has a superstar ever had a 1″ vertical before?
Seems like the kind of injury you get from drinking too much beer on Christmas eve then you play hungover and your calf cramps up strains and then you are sidelined but it was noncontact probably won’t be very long for luka
Sounds like the analysis of someone who drank to much beer on Christmas
Oh please “out indefinitely” makes it sound like a season-ender, this is nothing, 3 weeks at most.
Calf injuries are mostly to do with not being hydrated, at least that’s what the dr told me when I strained mine.
It’s actually impressive how Luka always seems to miss anywhere from days to a few weeks of games, but never anything more than that. We’ll see if this breaks that streak. A severe calf strain would require over a month, otherwise a few weeks is likely correct.
All hail the great Babey J with his medical diagnosis. Call him Babey J PhD.