Luka Doncic may still be stuck on the sidelines, but the injured star loved watching the Los Angeles Lakers continue to struggle last season without him.
After the sophomore strained his left hamstring late in the regular season, many expected the Lakers’ playoff hopes to quickly fade away.
Instead, players like Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura and Luke Kennard stepped into big roles alongside LeBron James to help Los Angeles get past the Houston Rockets in the first round.
Now facing the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round, Doncic admitted he was blown away by how the team responded in his absence.
“Everything. Everyone helped us,” Doncic told reporters in Oklahoma City. “We showed we can play. Everyone stood up, it’s really amazing to see. So I hope they continue that.”
James has carried a lot of the spotlight during this stretch, but the Lakers have needed contributions from everywhere to survive. Smart and Kennard helped ease the pressure as secondary ball handlers, while Hachimura continued to provide reliable perimeter shooting and versatile defense throughout the playoffs.
Even though he wasn’t available, Doncic said he tried to stay on the bench and help where possible.
“Honestly, just talk to them a little,” Doncic added. “Tell them what I see. But the way they are playing is amazing as I said. There is not much I can do, I am just trying to give them advice but obviously we have many players who have been in this situation so they know what they have to do.”
Despite being proud of the Lakers’ playoff run, Doncic admitted that the injury is still difficult to accept given how well the team was playing before he went down.
“Definitely, yes. I’m still thinking about that,” Doncic said when asked if the Lakers looked like title contenders before his injury. “We had an amazing month of March and the injury came at the worst time for me. I think the other guys did really well, but it was very frustrating for me.”
READ MORE: Grim Luka Doncic Injury Update
