The Lakers haven’t completely fallen apart this season, but things are getting shaky. The combo of injuries, especially Luka Doncic’s Grade 2 hamstring strain, has put their playoff positioning and entire postseason run in real danger. With only a few games left before the 2026 NBA playoffs start, the team sits at 50-28 and has locked up the Pacific Division. But here’s the problem: without Doncic, they’re just 7-7 this season. That record tells you how much they lean on him.

Normally, a Grade 2 hamstring strain keeps a player out for four to six weeks. That timeline would mean missing the rest of the regular season and possibly the start of the playoffs. The Lakers simply can’t wait that long if they want a real shot this spring.

“I’m told Luka Doncic is currently in Spain. He traveled there because he’s undergoing an injection procedure in that Grade 2 hamstring area to see if he can promote healing,” ESPN’s Shams Charania informed on NBA Today. “And, at the end of the day, expedite his return process. He’s doing everything he can to make it back out on the court.”

Recent games have made it crystal clear—the Lakers look different without their star creator. He’s been playing at an MVP level all year, putting up 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 8.3 assists in 64 games. Now, with both Doncic and Austin Reaves sidelined, the offense feels stuck, and LeBron James is being asked to carry even more.

The whole roster is built around the big three of Doncic, Reaves, and James to fill defensive gaps. Without Luka, just getting through the first round of the playoffs looks like a tough ask.

Moreover, Doncic isn’t the first athlete to head to Europe in search of recovery. Over the years, stars like Andrew Luck, Alex Rodriguez, Peyton Manning, and Kobe Bryant have made similar trips to speed up healing and get back to peak form. But why do elite athletes rush across the Atlantic?

Europe has quietly become a hotspot for cutting-edge sports medicine. The appeal lies in advanced treatments designed to speed up recovery, with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy leading the buzz since the early 2010s.

Athletes believed it could shave weeks off rehab timelines. However, early trials showed mixed results. Even so, the innovation and willingness to push boundaries kept European clinics firmly on the radar of every elite athlete.

That reputation still holds strong today. In 2024, Christian McCaffrey traveled to Germany for PRP treatment for a stubborn Achilles injury. The move paid off. By 2025, he stormed back to claim first-team All-Pro honors and the Comeback Player of the Year award.

Interestingly, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved PRP, yet professional sports leagues do not ban it. As a result, athletes continue to travel overseas in search of that extra edge in recovery.

At the same time, doctors prescribe longer recovery methods that include: the MEAT Method (Movement, Exercise, Analgesia, and Therapy); the RICE Method (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation); and physical therapy. But these will take time, and Luka Doncic is running out of time.

So why is Luka pushing so hard to return? It’s not just about his own recovery—it’s about keeping the Lakers’ season alive and protecting his chance at individual awards, as he won’t qualify for NBA awards.

Luka Doncic’s appeal could push back the timeline for NBA award voting

A longer absence doesn’t only hurt the team’s playoff hopes. It also puts his eligibility for big honors like MVP and All-NBA at risk because of the NBA’s 65-game rule. Luka has played exactly 64 games so far—one short of the cutoff. His agent, Bill Duffy, is getting ready to file an “Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge.” He wants to argue that the two games Luka missed earlier for the birth of his daughter shouldn’t count against him.

This challenge can’t be officially submitted until after the regular season ends on April 12, and it might even push back the awards voting timeline a bit. But even with all that going on off the court, the biggest thing for the Lakers is still what happens on it. Getting Doncic back on time could turn a shaky playoff outlook into something much more promising.

For the Lakers, this trip to Spain is a big gamble, but one they feel they have to take to stabilize their season. As the playoffs get closer, everyone will be watching to see if that injection can give Luka the boost he needs to help Los Angeles make a real run.