[Charania] The expectation is, if the Lakers are able to beat Houston and advance, Luka Dončić will be out for the next series [against the Oklahoma City Thunder].
They’re only saying this to try to mess with OKC’s series prep. 4D chess.
Yeah that is really going to change how OKC prep
“We might win in 5 instead of a sweep, scary times”
“Ay Lu, it’s the slav not the redneck. Different center of gravity for when you trip his fat ass.”
Game theory-wise, it makes sense though.
If Luka wasn’t planning on coming back, the optimal move would be to forecast that he is potentially coming back so OKC wastes time prepping for him. They have nothing to gain strategically by confirming he isn’t coming back if he isn’t actually coming back - it’d be better to leave it ambiguous in all cases.
If he is coming back, you should therefore do the opposite, to lower the opponent’s guard and make them underprepared
Can you actually do this?
That’s the clever part of texting Shams to say it instead.
Shams: “Go fuck yourself, San Diego.”
They walloped them even with Luka there. Okc would probably want him to play too lol 😭
Damn they will win by 45 now instead of 30.
I expected it but I’m still disappointed
Luka is sleeping 16 hours a day apparently.. the hamstring needs elevation as well.. if it’s elevating up to his forehead high, he could be back for game 3, I’m thinking
If Luka isn’t expected to play game 1 he should just sit and prep for next season.
It’s round 2 and they are overwhelming underdogs and have lost by an average of 30 points or so this year to okc.
If this was the finals I’d say go for it
I heard of a shaolin bootcamp that does wonders during offseason
I mean it makes sense but I find it hilarious that the Thunder flair is saying “Lakers should just not play their best player against us”
I mean tbh I’d love to see the thunder beat them w Luka fully healthy and I know they could, but when players get injured it really hurts my stomach and this seems so easily preventable
I don’t like Luka magic nor do I like The Alien. But I do like Luka and Victor if that makes sense
Lakers need to get him in one of those healing tanks from DBZ
HyperBronic Time Chamber.
Or just give him a Senzu Bean.
Senzu LeBean
Lakers can’t make a bacta tank?
Senzu beans don’t have the same aura though
Waiting for Bron to sub Bronny in against the Thunder like Gohan against Cell
Thunder in 2
Idk if this satire 😭
You elevates the legs. Get blood to the head!
Where did you read this?
Damn gonna turn bro in to Michael Jackson. I bet he’s in his head bad af. He lost the weight and appears to take his conditioning more serious and then he’s hurt at the worst possible moment.
IF IT’S ELEVATING UP TO TWO FOREHEADS HIGH HE CUOLD BE BACK FOR GAME 1
Sucks so much. We’ve missed out on so many exciting series due to injuries over the years.
Even just THIS year.
we knew from the very first moment that was something serious, cos (for one watching luka since early dallas years) luka would have played banged up, one legged, and shooting with just the left just to be able to compete.
when he did the hulk hogan move trying to tear the jersey exiting the court, he knew for this year the playoff were almost over. there’s still another game to win against houston, a couple day for resting and the series with okc, so better live this year minute by minute.
never say never
It would be absolutely hilarious if the lakers still knock out the thunder
They’ll be lucky to win one game
That is honest. Take OKC’s going to jump on such huge leads on them every game
What was the initial timeline, I thought he was expected back for the 2nd round if they made it?
4-6 weeks. 6 weeks would be may 14th.
Yea that’s crazy for a stem cell treatment..
Stem cell treatments are pretty random. Some people are hyper responders while others experience no benefit as far as return time.
This is interesting to me. Surely it’s not actually random and we just haven’t fully established the relationship/pattern yet. Are there any leading theories?
The leading theory is “pretty random”
Pretty much. People overestimate how much we actually know about medicine and cell dynamics. There are plenty of medications that we use because they have been proven to be effective, but we don’t actually understand how they work.
I’m not disputing that happens, there is a lot in this world that we don’t understand. But usually, we try to incrementally learn more about it until eventually (whether that be in this lifetime or future ones) we do hopefully understand.
My question was about where we are in that
Lmao
Things are rarely truly “random” but response to peptides, steroids, and hormones in general can vary greatly. It’s not surprising if stem cells are similar.
Furthermore, I think it’s mostly;
1: you are taking cells and trying to make them different cells. The differentiation can go wrong, lots and lots of things have to go right for the treatment to have any sort of benefit
2: Human immune system is incredible. At times, too incredible.
Stem cell injection is one of many treatments the human immune system might take out.
yeah I get the general concept, more wondering if current research is pointing any particular way for possible explanations
Stem cells don’t have much proven record in any randomized controlled trials. It just sounds awesome
OKC would probably have swept the Lakers by May 14, right? Unless the series with Houston somehow goes to 7.
Yeah, I would think the Houston series would need to extend and the Lakers would need to steal a game in OKC for the Lakers to consider bringing him back. This is all conjecture though. The Lakers have been very cryptic with his recovery and from the little they’ve released have appeared to be approaching this situation with extreme caution.
Game 7 round 2 is like May 17th. That’s over 6 weeks
Lakers are not arriving to Game 7 vs. OKC without Luka lol
as a lakers fan it’s be OKC in 5 at best. it’s ggs
They win at least one because JR Smith is graduating college and playing golf.
Thunder have Shaivonte but the Lakers have Marcus Smart.
I agree with can probably wrap it up in 5 with the GOAT Kennard averaging 45 a game
They never gave a timeline. They always said he was out indefinitely.
Twitter doctors gave a timeline and ppl ran with it
Nope
Smart.
Beating OKC was always a pipedream with a healthy Luka. Lakers got atleast 5+ years to contend with Luka. No need to risk further aggravating hamstring and having him fall off like 2021 Harden did after playing through a grade 2 hammy
I agree with you but 5 years comes by way faster than you think.
5 years ago Giannis was coming fresh off his first championship. Imagine if he and the franchise knew what the next five years had in stock for them.
We comparing Lakers and Bucks team building possibilities?
tbf, if we were really as capable as you’re implying, we wouldn’t have completely broken down that 2020 championship team and wouldn’t have reeled in Westbrook. That’s like 3 years of semi prime LBJ/AD down the drain.
Lakers fail upwards, it’s brutal for other fanbases to watch.
Luka’s contract is only for 3 more years. Idk where you got 5 from
Is a no LeBron Lakers really contending seriously in the West? They would need to make some more drastic moves to get a #2 that is better than Reaves next to Luka to really contend in my opinion. Reaves as a number 2 is never beating OKC
It’s the Lakers bro everyone wants to play in LA. They’ll figure it out
The convinced LeBron to come play with Lonzo, Ingram and Rondo. Yea if they have the cap space most of the league is going to sign to play with Luka.
not my goat jeff teague
A #2 player averaging 23 ppg (Reaves) next to Luka is absolutely a contender in the West. It isn’t the second star that wins you titles, it’s the bench that provides your team depth. Just my take.
I think he gets there but he needs to be able to navigate through tough defenses.
They need to surround those two with defensive talent
Sure they’ll be contenders but they not gonna win anything if they don’t do something that masks Luka and AR on the defensive end
They have a lot of cap to spend and moving off of LeBron’s money would open it up quite a bit more.
Idk who they might be targeting in trades/draft/free agency but I expect the roster to be quite a bit different as soon as LeBron moves on
They should pick up Lu Dort tbh
He wouldn’t be the worst pickup, tbh, but they really need some help in the front court
I doubt the lakers are going to have as much cap as everyone thinks, especially with how Kennard, Rui, and Smart are playing. The second you say you want those guys back the cap is pretty much gone right there.
Not to mention this FA class really isn’t that good, the only thing I can think of is them trying to hit a home run into the open cap space with a trade for Giannis given the new lotto system but outside of that it’s looking like one step forward two steps back.
I think Reaves being redundant will ultimately prevent the lakers from competing because you can’t have 100M going to the same skill set when you’re severely deficient in some others. But that isn’t really an issue they can solve this offseason so you’re better off singing him and trading him down the lines.
Lakers prioritizing Kennard would be beyond stupid
They need more shooters regardless, who out there is going to fulfill that role at a cheaper and better level? Who should they target in FA in general?
Different sure but hard to see it being better to me
lebron is (arguably) the goat but you’re paying $50m for the lion in winter.
you turn that into a couple key role players or a star to complement luka and reaves and the lakers are cooking.
50 million is an overpay for sure but I feel like his skill set won’t be as easily replaceable as people make it seem. Looking at his playoff and late season production without factoring in the age who can be easily gotten in this market to replace that?
oh for sure. old lebron basically can do anything extremely well - he can playmake, he can shoot (isn’t a sharpshooter), he can drive, he can defend, but only for a limited amount of time. i think it’s a recreate him (and hopefully more) in the aggregate, or reconfigure the team around luka / reaves. most likely some version of the latter.
i also think lebron, because of who he is, just brings that x factor. like you just can’t count a team with him on it out really.
but you could do something really nice - set aside who might be available to trade, for $50m you could get a really nice 3&D guy, a center (starter or backup for ayton, who has played pretty well in the playoffs), a couple high quality bench / lower-end starter guys… many options there.
By the time this series is over, Luka would have sat out for 4 weeks already. How much time off does he need? Because if he can’t play against OKC, LAL should just put his status as OFS. And tell the team that they can all start booking for vacation now, and be in Cancun before Cinco De Mayo
Big 3 of Luka, AR and LeBron 5 years from now will be scary
Oh nooo.
What about Austin?
He’s coming back for Game 5 of the current series so I’m sure they expect him to also play the following series
I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a game-time decision for Game 5 but is sat out but if the Lakers lose then he’s in for sure for Game 6.
He’s officially a game time decision for tomorrow according to ESPN radio
Yeah I was referring to that, I just meant he won’t actually play just to be safe. Sorry I should’ve been clearer.
Although Lu expects him not to play game 2 of the next series
Can’t wait to see him outhustle into someone’s kneecaps
They’re gonna sit him and Bron and let Bronny play 48 minutes a game so they make the sweep happen faster
Bronny will be the first player to ever average 20 TO/g against Cason Wallace
A 40⁄20 playoff game would be huge for Bronnys legacy. 40 minutes and 20 turnovers.
damn the thunder boutta moonwalk their way to the finals again
Yeah let’s just pretend the Spurs aren’t a juggernaut and dont have a motivated freakshow at center fresh off a unanimous DPOY campaign.
There is no moonwalking past any of that.
Spurs vs Thunder will hit like CRACK
Can we make it past the Blazers before we even consider the WCF please.
Thunder had a tough 7 game series vs Denver last year
No Denver is a fraud, haven’t you heard?? That doesn’t count, Jokic is a bad defender
I guess the spurs just don’t exist
Ahhhh you right, my bad
I mean that’s the advantage of 1 seed and there’s still the Spurs lol
All the Nuggets B Squad needed to do was lay down in game 82. Instead we got mayhem for 7 teams, and the defending champs in a cakewalk
The Thunder out here being Michael Jackson better than Michael Jackson
So much better than actually risking a catastrophic injury that burns next year.
Anytime you play Dort it’s a risk look at Booker
Is booker injured?
Yeah the 30 seconds he was off the court lost the series for the suns
I wouldnt want to play dort on an existing injury either. GL in the conference finals. Should be a great watch
Thanks, hope it is too. No more fucking injuries for the love of God. I think an offseason to tool around Luka will be really good for that team.
This is a surprise? 4-6 weeks was the initial timeline. Series probably starts around 4.5⁄5 weeks, ends at about 7 weeks if it goes to seven. That is to say, I’d have expected him to come back at some point in the series unless the timeline was just wrong.
6-8 weeks and from reports it was a bad grade 2 so timeline can be longer. Also look at Gordon and peyton Watson. Gordon played through it in playoffs last year and he’s barely played this year and is still injured peyton Watson came back and re-injured again and still injured and didn’t play too much too. Re-injury is so common with a hamstring injury
…so yes it is a surprise?
Let me zag on conventional wisdom: was the Bubble the only legitimate title? Every team had time to recover and return from injury, no travel/home advantages. Just ball?
According to this sub, the only team that benefited from the break was the Lakers. Just completely undeniable fact.
According to this sub every years ring is invalid because people only got hurt in those seasons and no others.
Yes, it was the most fair NBA tournament of all time. All the players had the same amount of rest, same facilities, no travel time, etc
lebron will take care of okc like he did in ‘12
Crazy how Lebron has spent more time in the league after last facing OKC than before
He’s been in the league longer than okc has been a team.
LeBron has been in the league longer than we’ve been a team… crazy work.
14 years vs. 9 years, it’s not even close
Apparently Shams misspoke and meant the start of the series, not the entire series.
Source?
It’s true I’m the series
It’s true
my expectation is Lu Dort is banned from the NBA and SGA’s arrested for medical fraud
Medical fraud 😭? I haven’t heard this one before
That’s why the lakers rockets series is fun and all, but it honestly doesn’t matter because they both get smacked by OKC
It matters, just not if you only care about who is going to win a championship
Lakers are going to give the rockets a better draft pick
With Luka - OKC in 4.
Without Luka - OKC in 4.
We were gonna lose anyway but this is another level of hopeless
Pelinka is over LeBron and focusing on Luka moving forward. Shut it down. The Lakers have a minimal chance of competing with OKC. Without Luka I’m guessing the series goes 4-1 or maybe 4-2 if LeBron or Reeves randomly goes nuclear one game
Lebron doing more with less and Pelinka’s still over him. That seems unfair but it’s actually believable lol
Pelinka is a dumbass so I get it. LeBron shouldn’t go back to Cleveland. He should go to San Antonia and collect that sweet sweet HEB endorsement money
Luka’s about to be 28 this time next year lol
It’s either you commit to this 1 year window with 42 year old Bron at the risk of harming the next 3-4 because this is the best you think it can ever get or accept that there will need to be a readjustment phase after Bron in which case every second he’s on the team is wasting time and delaying the ability to actually retool around Luka until he’s past 30
Had a feeling when it said week to week
Honestly I prefer this. Get healthy for next season with hopefully what is a more well rounded roster.
I am pretty sure he will play for Slovenia with Hayes in the summer. I really hope he doesn’t and rests, but it won’t happen.
Hol on how tf is Hayes playing for slovenia?
Applied for citizenship to play with Luka, apparently. Bro wants that job security.
It’s been fully bta this season when these teams played even with Luka playing, so probably fine for him to just focus on healing and get ready for next season
How is the 41 year old the one who made it to the post season over the first and second option
The 41 year old who started the season off with sciatica lmao. Crazy timeline
not just that, ARTHRITIS lmao
And he went overseas for specialized treatment for what then?
To visit and see his daughters
For them to say that it isn’t possible. Not all are successful.
To see his kids
Good. It’s an injury that would keep him from practicing for 6 weeks, then take ramp up. It’s senseless to rush such a risky injury when even if healthy they’d likely get blasted anyway.
Could end up ruining his prime if not handled properly look at what happened to harden when he was in Brooklyn/Philly he still was good but never was what he was in Houston due to that injury
You don’t understand how injuries work. You don’t start ramping up at the reevaluation date, that is when you are hypothetically cleared to play or not.
1,2,3, CANCUN!
Great climate to rehab a hammy
Cancun on 3
Guy got in shape and wound up getting injured. Bring back Fat Luka.
ouch
Another red carpet laid out for the Thunder to the finals.
Welp. They’re toast.
Too bad. Could have been an awesome 2nd round series.
Filler series. It’s really unfortunate though with Lebron’s future being uncertain. Might’ve been the last chance for him to play in the playoffs with Luka.
Avoiding the belt
Smh
well, if the lakers are good enough to beat OKC somehow, then they don’t need him to win the rest of the playoffs.
That sucks, it would have been a fun series
oof but I get it. Luka isnt a young lad anymore and he already has reaggravted a few injuries. best path forward is to be cautious
Probably better for his future imo. So many players dealing with hamstring injuries. Probably just best for his and lakers future to protect him. I really don’t think they have the depth and 2 way players to beat the okc thunder anyways and if he comes back and re-injures it really would be one of the worst mistakes to do with your superstar player
It was a grade 2 one too, not a mild tweak either.
This sux
For all the “trade/waive/don’t re-sign Lebron” people in the Lakers fandom, this is a little tiny bit funny.
Healthy Lakers ain’t beating OKC but these are the worst Lakers team Dončić will ever have. I’m sure.
What has pelinka done in his career to make you say this lol
It was always wraps anyways, reaves and luka would never be at 100%, OKC would still be heavily favored even without jdub. But now you can wrap the wrap
okey so were finished
Nico Harrison punching air right now
Good season, everybody
Treatment in germany for what…. ahhhhhh. try again next year.
How convenient
I know the Thunder are bummed out. The way he ate them up a couple years ago, I’m sure they were praying to get revenge.
Yeah let’s totally force players to play 65 games in the regular season to make sure we get great playoff ball
Go Rockets!
I mean does it really matter…I don’t think a healthy lakers goes more than 5 games with the thunder.
Okc has dominated the Lakers with year with Luka playing and not playing
Let Doncic do whatever LeBron is doing that keeps him in such good shape 😭😭
thunder gets another bye round no matter what. grats
Sure glad JJ played him injured down 30
I would still pick okc even if they had their whole squad
Damn playoff Luka is always entertaining as f
Welp … pack the lakers up
Was going to be Thunder in 4. Now it will be Thunder in 4.
Damn
With Luka - OKC in 4 Without Luka - Same
lakers will be sweeping okc with or WITHOUT luka
Big assumption
Uhh yea no the Lakers are out for the next series if Luka is. I would forfeit. 🤣
I expected nothing and I’ve been having fun living in the moment but it’s probably going to be a lot easier if i start mourning the season now. Boston/OKC finals feels the most possible, OKC repeat feels inevitable