Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic. Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images

Lakers set to unleash Luka Doncic against Hornets

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Feb 19, 2025 10:17 AM ET

Los Angeles Lakers fans will get the whole Luka Doncic experience starting Wednesday when the team returns from the All-Star break to host the Charlotte Hornets.

Doncic clocked only 23.5 minutes in his first two games as a Laker while attempting a career-low 13.5 shots. The Slovenian had averaged at least 20.0 shots from his second season through his final 22 games in Dallas, establishing himself as one of the NBA's high-volume scorers.

On the eve of the game against the Hornets, Lakers head coach JJ Redick confirmed that Doncic was no longer under a minutes restriction and had fully recovered from his calf strain.

Lakers coach JJ Redick on Luka Doncic: "He’ll be fine. That extra five-six days of All-Star break was good for him. His minutes will be up tomorrow. And I don’t think that there’s going to be any sort of restrictions going forward."
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) February 19, 2025

The game feels like the perfect storm for Doncic to announce his arrival as the Purple and Gold's next superstar. First, all eyes will be on the Lakers and Hornets, with the 28 other teams still in their All-Star break. Second, LeBron James remains questionable, meaning Doncic would have more opportunities to put his stamp on the game.

Furthermore, the Hornets (13-39) are one of the worst teams in the league, having won only two games in the last 30 days. They offer Doncic the perfect punching bag to round into form.

Doncic missed a chunk of games for the Mavericks with a calf strain, arguably the most severe injury of his career. Several insiders suggested that Dallas hesitated to give Doncic a $345M supermax contract due to the injury and concerns with his conditioning. According to The Athletic's Fred Katz, the Mavericks were so concerned about his conditioning that they faked an injury report in November to allow Doncic time to get into basketball shape.

The 25-year-old star is admittedly using those reports as fuel. Upon arriving in L.A., Doncic said he was using the reports as a "motive" to prove his naysayers wrong. A fully healthy Doncic begins his revenge tour, starting Wednesday vs. the Hornets.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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