Brian Windhorst isn’t so sure Luka Doncic traveled to Spain last month to get treatment on his ailing hamstring.
While appearing on “The Rich Eisen Show” this week, the ESPN NBA insider said he believed Doncic went overseas for more personal matters than work ones.
“I’m a big actions over words guy,” Windhorst said. “When Luka got hurt, Luka went to Spain for ‘treatment.’ Have you ever heard of someone — I mean, I’ve heard of going to Germany. I’ve never heard of going to Spain.”
Windhorst implied that the Lakers simply let the Slovenian native return to Europe for a mini-vacation, knowing that his injured leg needed multiple weeks to heal.
“Luka also has a newborn who is Slovenia,” Windhorst said. “And so I certainly think if he had an opportunity to go and get some time off, go to Slovenia and see your newborn child. He lives in Madrid in the offseason.”
Doncic sustained a Grade 2 hamstring strain on April 2, and days later, he was spotted in Spain signing autographs and taking in a basketball game with Novak Djokovic.
Multiple reports indicated he was there almost exclusively to get special treatment on his wounded leg, and following Windhorst’s comments on Tuesday, Slovenian basketball analyst Matej Petek was adamant that’s precisely why Doncic hopped on a plane.
“Luka doesn’t live in Madrid in the offseason and Spain is well known for their stem cell/PRP treatments,” Petek wrote on X. “Windhorst is completely wrong here. Not the first time for him when it comes to Luka.”
Doncic has not played since suffering the injury, though he has at least resumed light workouts. He missed the Lakers’ Tuesday night loss to the Thunder, and he’s expected to miss at least one more game of the series.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
