People who watched Luka Dončić limp through the whole season may now have a scientific explanation: according to a report from The Athletic, a medical examination in Spain showed that the injury was closer to third degree, not the second as it was presented.

Doctor Jesse Morse, the sports physician who commented on the injury, didn't leave much room for doubt. „If Dončić's injury was really third degree, he had zero chance of returning this season." A blunt statement that throws a shadow over everything that happened in Los Angeles over the past two months.

According to his comments, the Lakers made a mistake in the treatment. Specifically, as reported, the team only applied „four rounds of PRP treatment" - a method that, according to Morse, is good for mild and moderate injuries, but not for one as serious as Dončić's. He believes they should have used higher-level regenerative treatments - allograft tissue, expanded stem cells, exosomes.

Morse explained the situation with a comparison that the global media immediately picked up: „Like being a multi-millionaire and choosing a Toyota Corolla instead of a Bugatti for the most important race of your life." PRP = Corolla. Stem cells = Bugatti. And both finish the race - but not the same way.

Dončić missed 15 games. During that time the Lakers went 7-8, then got swept by Oklahoma Thunder in the second round of the play-offs, a clean 4:0. Without him, the team had no second weapon. With him - but not adequately recovered - they may have suffered an even bigger loss, both in individual performance and in the future.

The question now hanging over the whole story isn't whether Dončić will play next season - that's certain. The question is whether the Slovenian playmaker, who came out of Real Madrid into the NBA with injuries as his biggest enemy, will recover fully or carry the consequences further. For Balkan fans who have followed him since Real Madrid and national-team tournaments - this is an important season with an open outcome.

And the Lakers' medical staff? Plenty of questions without answers.