The Los Angeles Lakers will start the series against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder without their best player. Luka Dončić is officially out for Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal because of a tendon injury.

The Slovenian has been carrying the same injury for more than a month now - the same one he picked up in Oklahoma. A grade-2 tear in the left hamstring is not something that „heals quickly", no matter how many specialists are brought in. Dončić has gone through a number of European treatments, returned to the team, but real news about a return to the floor is still missing.

Without him, the Lakers beat the Houston Rockets 4-2 in the first round. That was a small kind of miracle - a team without its franchise playmaker managed to clear the first hurdle. Now comes the Thunder, the favourite for the title, and this Lakers team without Dončić doesn't look like someone who can surprise them.

The question is simple: if not now, when? The Western Conference semifinal, a series against the title holder, and the Lakers' best player watching from the bench. The doctors have a hard call to make - either sacrifice the rest of this season to protect the career, or send him onto the floor before he is fully ready and risk losing him for much longer.

For now there is no answer. No date either. Just a repeat of the same line: „his condition is evaluated day by day." Which in NBA-speak means: don't expect him soon.