Luka Donicctravelled to Europe to have specialised regenerative therapy following a Grade 2 hamstring injury and doctors believe that the state-of-the-art injections would cut his recovery time in half.
Doncic, 27, suffered with a Grade 2 injury while playing in the Lakers 43-point loss to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. He has decided to take treatment for the injury in Spain.
He was later ruled out until the rest of the regular season after which his availability to play in the playoffs was highly doubtful.
It could not have come at a worse time that Doncic had been making a legitimate MVP stretch in the month of March with 600 points in the month the most by any individual in a single month since 2019 a personal record only matched by James Harden and Michael Jordan.
Doncic has selected Spain for his treatment
According to the Collective Bargaining Agreement of the NBA, it is up to the players to decide how they would like to be treated provided that it is not related to any banned substances i.e. there is no violation of the rules to which Doncic would be subjected to because he chose to obtain medical care in a foreign country but rather he is using a much bigger medical toolkit that he is prohibited in the United States.
NBA insider Shams Charania reported to ESPN that Doncic went to Spain to have an injection directly into the Grade 2 hamstring section in an attempt to help the hamstring heal and speed up his recovery.
A report by the LA Times, which interviewed primary care sports medicine specialist Dr Kenton Fibel claims that the Lakers star is undergoing biologic injections such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections which are ultrasound guided and stem cell injections which can accelerate the healing of injured tissue by using natural growth and anti-inflammatory elements present in platelets.
Expensive treatment may could half the healing process
The cost that such treatment is charged is high. The entire regime of regenerative treatments in Europe may cost more than $20,000. Medical specialists have reported an outlay that Doncic and the Lakers consider a worthwhile investment based on the playoff stakes. A Sports Illustrated article states that Doncic is not the first top player to do so – the NHL sensation Auston Matthews and NFL running back Christian McCaffrey have made such trips to Germany in recent seasons to receive specialised injury treatment.
Thoughtfully optimistic analysis was provided by Dr Evan Jeffries, a Doctor of Physical Therapy and injury analyst. Assuming that this would halve his healing time (46 weeks), in theory, Jeffries could be back in 23 weeks just in time to take part in the first round of the playoffs but he warned that the possibility of treatment having a significant impact on the normal healing period is merely theoretical and there is no assurance that treatment will have a significant impact on the normal healing period.
High risk treatment
It is the fifth hamstring injury that Doncic had to cope with in his career. Soft-tissue injuries will heal at their own rate they also cushion the ACL, i.e. an inadequately healed hamstring will increase the risk of a more severe knee injury.
Doncic agent Bill Duffy said that his client has an incentive to make a comeback in the playoffs which is also the ambition of fellow injured Laker Austin Reaves who is out with a Grade 2 left oblique injury.
Coach JJ Redick made it clear to the rest of the squad “Both of them are going to attempt to make it back, and it is our role to help the season continue so that they can make it back.As the NBA playoffs begin on April 18, the clock is going on and so is the twenty thousand dollar wager that Doncic is giving on himself.
By- Vidushi Mishra
