On Saturday afternoon, the entire Los Angeles Lakers fandom had their stomachs in a knot when star guard Luka Doncic suffered a knee injury while playing against the Latvian team led by Kristaps Porzingis. This was one of the friendly matches for his home country of Slovenia in a tune-up for EuroBasket this summer. Doncic was taken out by a teammate while defending the paint and immediately was in a lot of pain. But finally, relief swept across Lakers Nation over the weekend as Marc Stein made another post following his last announcement. 

Before the injury, Doncic had torched Latvia for 26 points in just 17 minutes. It was vintage Luka, hitting from deep, running the floor, throwing dimes. But then came the third quarter. A freak play. Teammate Gregor Hrovat fell into Doncic’s leg as Luka challenged a shot under the rim. Luka hunched over in pain. He limped off, cameras caught him courtside with an ice pack. 

TheSteinLine posted on X the update to Luka Doncic injury story, “Luka Dončić is scheduled to be back at practice Monday, Slovenia’s basketball federation (@kzs_si) has announced, with his official status still TBD for Tuesday’s @EuroBasket warmup game at home against Great Britain.” Luka’s back at practice, no structural damage, or fractures, just a contusion. It might linger, but it won’t derail his offseason. Slovenia can breathe, the Lakers can move forward.

But that was not all, after the 100-88 loss to Latvia, which was Slovenia’s fourth straight in exhibition play after losing twice to Germany and then to Lithuania, expectedly Doncic was frustrated. Not just with the loss or the injury, but with the officiating. At the final buzzer, Doncic confronted all three referees. Slovenian outlet Sportklub wrote: “The Ljubljana native did not hide his anger at the refereeing after the match. At the referee’s final whistle, he dealt with all three referees with some juicy curses, making it clear that he was not satisfied with their work.”

Head coach Aleksander Sekulic didn’t mince words either, “It’s important that our guys really responded superbly to the pressure put by the Latvian team, and especially the referees. [Kristaps] Porzingis even came to me after the game and apologized for the refereeing,” Sekulić said, via Siol. Thankfully, the postgame drama didn’t extend into a medical crisis. The Slovenian Basketball Federation confirmed he avoided any serious injury and will move forward with preparations as scheduled.

Luka Doncic set to rejoin Slovenia soon

Marc Stein, the veteran NBA reporter, gave fans an update on the Doncic’s possible return, and it could not have come at a better time. With Slovenia losing four games in a row in the warm-ups and the centerpiece of their hopes down with his knee the alternative is simply unimaginable. Every game from now until Aug. 28’s EuroBasket opener vs. Poland is crucial for Slovenia’s survival but, moreover, morale.

And even with the injury scare, Doncic staying with the team, while continuing practice, keeps their hopes for a win alive. Slovenia’s next matchup is against Great Britain on Aug. 19, while Doncic is highly unlikely to take part in that, as his current status remains TBD, his return on the court for the high-profile showdown against Serbia on Aug. 21 is expected. But for now, the situation looks more precautionary than problematic. After Doncic’s 26-point in just the first half against Latvia was a reminder of just how important he is to this team, and how fragile their momentum can be without him. While the injury is quite minor, it did pause that momentum and put the spotlight squarely back on his status.

From the Lakers’ perspective, this is a relief. Doncic will have over a month to fully heal before their NBA preseason opener on Oct. 4 against the Suns, and more than two months before the regular season begins Oct. 22 vs. Golden State.