The Los Angeles Lakers are playing it safe.
And in reality, there's no reason to take any risks with Luka Doncic, not in the first week of October.
So on Friday, the Lakers made this announcement about Doncic, via ESPN's Dave McMeniman:
"Luka Doncic is out tonight, per the Lakers. And will not play against the Warriors on Sunday either. LAL is being mindful of the long term with Doncic coming off EuroBasket."
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Doncic was the star this summer at EuroBasket for Slovenia, carrying an extremely heavy workload while trying to carry out national pride.
A long summer like that can certainly throw off the body calendar from a season with a clear offseason.
Doncic is in much better shape this season, with Men's Health even doing a cover story on him, so that conceptually should help him hit the ground running once he gets back in games. He certainly seemed to be his best self during EuroBasket.
The Lakers also aren't playing LeBron James at this point in the preseason, so there's not a lot of value to playing Doncic. L.A. would certainly want their on-court chemistry to continue to improve.
The Lakers will open the regular season on Oct. 21 at home against the Golden State Warriors.
Los Angeles should just want a couple things: Have Doncic active for that game and ready to go, and have Doncic ready when the playoffs roll around in the spring.
Before that and even in the middle of that feels less important. Doncic is meant to raise new banners in Hollywood. So his health is paramount.
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