Report: Luka Doncic Told LeBron James To Take His Time In Return From Groin Injury

March 10, 2025

According to NBA reporter Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Luka Doncic told LeBron James to take his time in his return from a groin injury.

LeBron suffered a groin injury on March 8 against the Boston Celtics. He’s expected to miss one-to-two weeks.

The Los Angeles Lakers are in second place in the Western Conference standings.

LeBron is averaging 25.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 8.5 assists this season for the Lakers while shooting 51.7% from the field, 38.4% from beyond the arc and 77.0% from the free-throw line.

Doncic has appeared in 11 games with the Lakers. He’s averaging 24.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.6 assists while shooting 41.1% overall, 32.4% from 3 and 74.7% from the foul line.

One of the top players in the NBA, Doncic has a close relationship with LeBron and Los Angeles head coach JJ Redick.

The Lakers can offer Doncic a four-year, $229 million extension this summer, or, like other teams, a five-year, $296 million contract in the summer of 2026.

A future Hall of Famer, Doncic appeared in 422 games with the Dallas Mavericks. He averaged 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists and made five All-Star teams and five All-NBA teams.

Doncic was eligible to sign a five-year, $345 million extension with the Mavericks this summer. According to The Athletic, Dallas was never going to offer Doncic the supermax extension.

The 26-year-old Doncic has career averages of 28.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.3 assists with the Mavericks and Lakers. According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Dallas GM Nico Harrison no longer wanted the franchise to orbit around Doncic.

“Yet naturally now, with a bit of distance from the initial shock, you have begun to hear more of the whispers that the Mavericks had somehow concealed for months,” Stein wrote. “Whispers via league sources suggesting that Dallas’ decision-makers, most notably general manager Nico Harrison, no longer wanted Planet Mavericks to orbit around Dončić and had grown determined to trade him by this summer at the latest.”