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Three months without setting foot on a court, and here Luka Doncic chooses the quiet of August to send a signal to the entire league. "I'm at 100%, I already feel at my best," the Los Angeles Lakers point guard said in a message relayed by The Athletic. Absent since a muscle injury to his left leg sustained in early April, the Slovenian has used the offseason to rebuild a body battered by a regular season of excess.
A wasted spring, a summer to rebuild everything
The Lakers are riding a solid momentum: third-best record in the Western Conference with fifty wins and twenty-seven losses.
Let's go back to April 4. The Lakers are riding a solid momentum: third-best record in the Western Conference with fifty wins and twenty-seven losses. Doncic is averaging 33.5 points per game and leading the race for the scoring title. Then the verdict comes down: muscle tear in the left leg, regular season over. He will also miss the playoffs, leaving the Lakers without their offensive engine.
The stat that grates: sixty-four games played, one below the sixty-five-game threshold required for end-of-season award eligibility. A bitter twist of fate, especially since Doncic was among the favorites for the MVP trophy.
Since then, the Slovenian has immersed himself in an intensive rehabilitation program. Strength work, nutritional adjustments, targeted preparation with the California medical staff. The first images leaked this summer show a sharpened silhouette, free of the extra pounds that fueled debates in previous seasons. The Lakers' medical staff, under the direction of Dr. Kristofer Jones, has overseen every phase of the process. Joint mobility, adapted plyometrics, and weekly load tracking: the protocol, custom-designed, aimed at both prevention and performance.
Double goal: Lakers then Slovenia
Doncic's schedule is now known. His return with the Lakers is set for September's training camp, but it's well before that the Slovenian will don the jersey again. On August 28, he will lead the Slovenian national team in their Euro 2026 opener, with a clash against France on August 30 in a group that promises fireworks.
The Slovenian federation has been holding its breath for weeks. Seeing their captain withdraw from the Euro would have been a catastrophe for a nation that, carried by Doncic, reached the semifinals of the 2025 edition before falling to Germany. Head coach Aleksander Sekulić can now build his game plan around a player who assures he has regained all his sensations. He will also have a roster strengthened by the emergence of young point guard Jan Vide, but it's Doncic who will dictate the tempo of a team expected among the top four of the tournament.
A contract near forty million, expectations to match
The Lakers have invested heavily in their Slovenian gem. Thirty-nine and a half million dollars this season for a player the California franchise expects to carry the team into June. The April injury reminded everyone how much the structure rests on his shoulders: without him, the offense lost nearly twelve points per game, and playmaking collapsed in the fourth quarter.
August's message is therefore more than just locker room news. It's a statement of intent sent to the entire Western Conference. Doncic is standing, sharpened, and he has clearly digested the frustration of a spring spent in street clothes. The question remains whether his body will hold up over the distance on both fronts—NBA and national team—that the Slovenian intends to ignite without compromise.