Vincent Frank
This is not what fans of the Dallas Mavericks or anyone connected with the NBA wanted to see. Taking on the Phoenix Suns Thursday evening, Luka Doncic pulled up lame early in the first quarter with that appeared to be a left ankle injury.
As you will see below, Doncic was in a tremendous amount of pain before heading to the locker room. It did not look good for the NBA MVP candidate.
A short while after Doncic exited the floor, Dallas ruled him out for the remainder of the game.
There’s some good and bad news on this front. The good news first. This doesn’t seem to be that dreaded high-ankle sprain that would’ve sidelined Luka Doncic for multiple weeks. X-rays on his ankle were also negative.
The bad news? It looks like he was also grabbing the top of his foot. We’re not going to get into the guessing game when it comes to what that means. Dallas will provide an update after Thursday’s game with an MRI likely already scheduled.
- Luka Doncic stats (2022-23): 33.8 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 8.6 APG, 50% shooting
For Doncic, this comes on the same evening that he was named a starter for the 2023 NBA All-Star Game.
The 23-year-old guard is in the midst of an absolutely incredible season. Not only does he lead the NBA in scoring, the former No. 3 overall pick put up an historic 60-point, 20-rebound triple-double against the New York Knicks back in late-December.
We join pretty much everyone in hoping for the best and will provide updates when they become available.
