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Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers remains the focus of injury speculation after a sports doctor predicted a possible return by Thunder Game 5.

Lakers star Luka Doncic’s return date may not come until Game 5 against the Thunder, after a sports doctor issued a sobering update. In fact, Dr. Jesse Morse wrote Saturday that May 11, the date of a potential Game 5, would be the earliest the 27-year-old Doncic could be expected to return.

The grade 2 hamstring strain Doncic suffered April 2 against Oklahoma City has now kept him sidelined for a full month. Morse, a Florida-based sports medicine specialist who often provides public analysis of major athlete injuries, weighed in on X Friday, noting that Doncic, despite rejoining the team two weeks ago, has yet to advance in his running workouts or make meaningful progress toward five-on-five basketball activity. Morse said Doncic should be farther along physically than he apparently is, and Game 5 on May 11 is now a best-case scenario.

Doncic’s Hamstring Recovery Stalls as Lakers Face Thunder Series

Doncic traveled to Spain after the injury to receive injections likely from medical staff from his former club, Real Madrid, hoping to accelerate his recovery. The treatments, according to Morse, fell short of expectations.

“Whatever treatments they did in Spain, in my opinion, weren’t strong enough because he SHOULD be farther along than he is if they use the right product, volume and technique,” Morse wrote on his X account.

Morse noted that grade 2 hamstring strains classically require six to eight weeks to heal. Doncic has been back with the team for a couple of weeks but has not yet progressed to five-on-five work, the stage that immediately precedes full basketball activity. His conclusion was blunt: Doncic is not close to returning.

NBA insider Brett Siegel added critical context on X Friday. Siegel reported on his social media account that Doncic faces a re-evaluation next week before the Lakers can even discuss clearing him for increased workouts. With games scheduled every other day, Siegel was direct: Doncic will not have a chance to return before the second week of the series.

Lakers Without Doncic as LeBron James Steps Up

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst delivered an equally cold assessment Friday night after Los Angeles closed out Houston in Game 6.

“He’s not close,” Windhorst said, as quoted by Yahoo Sports. “When you come back from a hamstring injury like this, you have to ramp up, you have to play contact basketball, you have to play three on three and five on five. He hasn’t played for a month. He’s not doing any of that right now.”

Windhorst put the earliest realistic return window at one to 10 days into the series, landing squarely in the Game 4-to-Game 5 range while acknowledging the Lakers’ goal is simply to keep the series alive long enough for Doncic to matter.

Oklahoma City enters as the defending NBA champion, fully rested after sweeping Phoenix in the first round, and carrying a dominant regular-season record against Los Angeles. LeBron James carried the Lakers past Houston without Doncic and without Austin Reaves for most of the series, but the Thunder present a significantly steeper mountain to climb.

NBA history from this season underscores the risk. Jalen Williams suffered an identical hamstring strain, returned after 23 days, then re-injured the same spot two days later and missed another 40 games. The Lakers are navigating that same line between urgency and caution.

Game 1 tips off Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock in Oklahoma City.