Luka Doncic couldn’t hide his anger over this one thing after crushing elimination loss

Luka Doncic couldn’t hide his anger over this one thing after crushing elimination loss originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Luka Doncic watched from the sidelines on Monday night as the Oklahoma City  Thunder wrapped up a 4-0 series sweep of his Los Angeles Lakers, sealing Game 4 with a 115-110 win. The loss officially ended the Lakers’ playoff run without a single win in the series.

It is a disappointing finish for the Lakers that had entered the season with high expectations after acquiring Doncic in a blockbuster offseason trade. The postseason ended with Doncic unable to make an on-court impact due to injury, and he spoke candidly about his condition following the Game 4 loss.

“It’s very frustrating," Doncic said. "I know some people wanted me back, but obviously I wasn’t close to clearing. There was some stuff in the media that went out that wasn’t true. None of those people saw my MRIs or knew anything, so it wasn’t really true.

"If I could be out there, I would be 100%. Everybody in that room knows that. But it’s been really tough. This is the best time to play basketball, so not being able to help my team was hard."

Doncic's comments might have come due to the frustration with the reporting around his injury status during the series. ESPN insider Shams Charania had earlier reported that Doncic might either miss the remainder of the series or was closer to a return than reality indicated. Though Charania later deleted the post, Doncic was not clearly happy with the media news.