Through all the turmoil and inconsistent play, the Los Angeles Lakers still finished with the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference.
Unfortunately, they caught two comically terrible breaks with Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves out with injuries. Following JJ Redick’s latest update on Dončić, Lakers fans are preparing for the worst.
What is the Latest on Luka Dončić’s Injury?
With the Lakers set to take on the Houston Rockets this weekend, many were holding out hope for an encouraging update on Dončić and/or Reaves. Unfortunately, Redick was pretty blunt when talking with reporters on April 14. Per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, the Lakers’ stars are still out indefinitely.
“They’re out indefinitely. I’m not going to have an update for you this week. They’re out indefinitely” – JJ Redick on the injury statuses of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves pic.twitter.com/h9awcSTLcP
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 14, 2026
Because of this, popular Lakers fan pages were quick to embrace the negativity, as one used a GIF of Ja Morant trying to cover his face when he evidently didn’t want to be on camera.
https://t.co/TSgR05MgeD pic.twitter.com/GygECU70Ny
— Luka Performances (@LukaDoncicFilms) April 14, 2026
Another popular fan page posted an image of movie star Denzel Washington smiling with the caption, “We gettin swept.”
We gettin swept https://t.co/tIcyrv3SLa pic.twitter.com/FvsRqny9wM
— j. (@BronGotIt) April 14, 2026
There were reports that Dončić went to Europe hoping to speed up the recovery process. Because it’s still bad, one popular Lakers page believes he went there just to chill out.
Dude went to Europe to eat food and chill with the fam https://t.co/eGxsckGNa1
— Lane 😶🌫️ (@LakerrsLane) April 14, 2026
Even those outside of the Lakers fanbase think their hope is all but dead. Locked On Grizzlies’ Joe Mullinax posted a GIF of a WWE wrestler chanting, “You are cursed!”
https://t.co/adLiuJd9G9 pic.twitter.com/Wtxr0scHOX
— Joe Mullinax (@JoeMullinax) April 14, 2026
It’s hard to keep hope alive after what the Lakers have been through, with no light at the end of the tunnel for this season. It’s horrible for them that they have been given this hand.
Especially with all the uncertainty surrounding LeBron James and his unrestricted free agency this summer, this may have been their only chance to do so as a trio with Dončić and Reaves.
Were the Lakers the favorites at full strength? No, but they were rounding out to be a pretty tough team to beat in a seven-game series. Even with James as impressive as he is at 41 years old, it’s hard to see how that will be enough firepower to take down anyone in the Western Conference, let alone the Rockets.
However, Lakers fans must keep in mind that no matter how much this sucks, playing Dončić while on a gimpy hamstring is a recipe for long-term disaster. They must ensure he is 100% for next season. Doing so will help their title chances from here.
