Will Luka Doncic finally play a preseason game on Sunday? To be determined
At some point during the Lakers’ preseason, Luka Doncic will play a game.
The question is when.
Even after fully participating in Saturday’s practice, Lakers coach JJ Redick said Doncic was “TBD” when asked if his star guard would play in Sunday’s exhibition game against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena.
Announcement
Redick said Austin Reaves will play and Marcus Smart will see action in his first preseason game of the season.
The Lakers will play six preseason games, three of which will be after the game against the Warriors.
After practice, Doncic was asked when he would play.
Read more: LeBron James will miss the Lakers’ opening game due to sciatica
“I don’t know yet,” he said. “We need to talk about it: JJ and my team. So, I don’t know yet. But I’ll probably end up playing two preseason games.”
When the regular season begins Oct. 21 at home against the Warriors, Doncic won’t have running mate LeBron James by his side.
Announcement
James has been diagnosed with a sciatica nerve problem on his right side, the Lakers announced to the media Thursday, saying he will be reevaluated in about three to four weeks.
James and Doncic formed a great partnership when they played together after the shocking blockbuster trade last February.
Not having James at the start of the season has to be unsettling for Doncic and the Lakers.
“It’s a big change,” Doncic said. “He’s a great player. He can help us a lot. But at the end of the day, our mentality has to be the next man up. We have a group of guys that have been practicing and hopefully LeBron can join us as soon as possible. Obviously we’re going to need him. But our mentality has to be the next man up. That’s all.”
Announcement
Doncic will get plenty of help from Reaves, Smart, Deandre Ayton, Jared Vanderbilt and others with James out.
However, the assumption is that Doncic will have to carry a heavy load with James sidelined.
“No. I don’t look at it that way,” Doncic said. “I just want to play basketball. If I do less, if I do more, whatever I need to do to win.”
James hasn’t practiced at all, but Doncic said that hasn’t stopped the two from understanding that the team can still perform at a high level.
“It’s not all on the court. That’s what I said,” Doncic said. “It’s a chemistry thing off the field too. So obviously it’s a little more off the field now, but as we watched practice this week, we talked about it a lot.”
Announcement
The Lakers continue to move forward without James
They had learned over the summer that James had been dealing with “nerve irritation,” Redick said, and so it wasn’t a total surprise that James was out with a sciatica issue.
Redick said James has been on the field “every day” doing individual work. He simply couldn’t train with his teammates.
Redick was asked how James’ inability to participate in practices has affected his game planning for practices and the start of the season knowing he won’t be available for a while.
” No, no effect on practice planning,” Redick said. “And we haven’t game planned yet, so no effect.”
Announcement
Redick hadn’t put too much emphasis on his starting lineup during training camp and during preseason games.
But with James turning 41 in December, entering his 23rd season and getting injured in training camp, Redick was asked if he could envision one lineup with James starting and another with him out.
“Potentially. Yes,” he said. “Something that’s definitely been on my mind the last couple of days. Yes… you hope he comes back soon. Well, those things are, those things can be complicated. So, I don’t think it’s…
“We’ve known this since training camp, so nothing has changed regarding the way we want to train or our philosophy with the preseason games. It’s not clear who it will be, what the starting lineup will be. That’s the reality until he comes back. We’ll have to figure it out.”
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.