Luka Doncic Missed Playing Basketball

Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic was on an absolute tear in the second half of last season when he suffered an unfortunate hamstring injury that forced him to miss the entire postseason.

After spending a majority of the offseason rehabbing to get his hamstring back to full strength, Doncic was back in action on Monday night as the Lakers cruised to an easy win over the Sacramento Kings in their preseason opener and he discussed how he felt.

“I felt great, honestly. I think the whole team was just moving faster, but me personally, I think I felt great,” Doncic said on Spectrum SportsNet.

Doncic is used to playing basketball year around, representing his country of Slovenia in international play every offseason. The hamstring injury forced him to take time off this offseason instead though, and he admitted he missed the game.

“I missed it a lot,” Doncic said. “I’d say basketball is one of the best things in my life and I missed it a lot. It’s been five or six months I think and being back for the games, being competitive is a lot of fun for me. I’m happy to be back.”

Considering how competitive Doncic is, he discussed what other outlets he found this offseason to help scratch that itch without basketball.

“Golf was one of the things, honestly. I’m always competitive on the golf course. You’re gonna have competition every day. But I also practice basketball so it was competitive there. Played some other games and was competitive there, playing cards… Just being competitive every day.”

Luka Doncic: Lakers were having fun playing defense

No one was sure what to expect from the Lakers’ new-look roster, but they looked great in their preseason debut. Everyone was playing defense and sharing the ball, giving a sneak peak to the brand of basketball that can be expected from the purple and gold this season.

“I mean, it felt great,” Doncic said after the win. “I think we all had fun out there, especially with Matisse (Thybulle) and Ziaire (Williams) at the beginning of the game just started (picking up full court). That’s contagious for everybody, it’s inspirational. And then the other guys came from the bench and it’s just amazing to watch. They were having fun, they were sharing the ball. So I think the whole team had a lot of fun today.”

It was just against the Kings, of course, but it was also the first game the Lakers have played together as a group and they should continue to get even better with more reps.