Luka Doncic is just one game away from the 65 regular season games needed to be eligible for the MVP award, individual awards and to be included in the best line-ups of the season. The Lakers point guard was injured against the Thunder, which was the 64th in his personal account. He suffered a grade II strain of the hamstring in his left leg and, although he has traveled to Europe to try to recover miraculously, it seems that he will miss the rest of the regular season (he was already absent this morning in the defeat against the Mavericks) and the start of the playoffs.
However, there is a loophole for the Slovenian player to circumvent the 65-game rule that tortures many stars. Doncic became a father in December and flew to Slovenia for the birth of his second daughter. On that trip, he missed two games that could now, in an NBA exception, not be counted as rest. In fact, they weren’t at all.
It’s the birth of his daughter, it’s not an injury, it’s not load management. For that you have to travel to another country. I’m sure the NBA will do the right thing about it
Some legends believe that this should be the case. Before the game between the Mavericks and the Lakers, Tracy McGrady and Carmelo Anthony, now television analysts, advocated for it. “It’s the birth of his daughter, it’s not an injury, it’s not load management. You have to travel to another country for that. I’m sure the NBA will do the right thing about it,” he said.
Family matters
“These are international players. If they need to go back to take care of family business and miss games, they shouldn’t be penalized for that,” said the second while Vince Carter, also present, nodded in agreement.
They are international players. If they need to return to attend to family matters and miss matches, they should not be penalised for it
The possibility of appealing to an exceptional situation was explained by Doncic’s agent, Bill Duffy, after the extent of the injury became known. “His daughter was born on December 4 on another continent, yet he was back in the United States competing with his team on December 6. Great efforts should be made to be present for his team and this league this season. His record-breaking season deserves to be remembered in the history books, despite the unfortunate injury. We look forward to working with the NBAPA and the league office to ensure a fair outcome in this matter.”
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