A prominent commentator believes Luka Doncic is feigning injury, pretending to be hurt, performing poorly, and leaving the game early to rest.

Today, renowned reporters Shams and Chris Haynes reported that Luka Doncic suffered a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and will miss the remainder of the regular season. Based on the average recovery time for a Grade 2 strain, Doncic will be absent for the Lakers' first playoff round. His earliest possible return would be in the second playoff round, if the Lakers advance to that stage.

Late yesterday, prominent commentator Stephen A. Smith suggested on a TV program that Doncic pretends to be injured when his performance declines. He said, "Wait, you were scoring over 30 points for 12, 13, 15 consecutive games without any injury issues, and now suddenly your hamstring is hurt?"

He believes that Doncic, who shot 3-for-10 yesterday, scoring 12 points with 4 rebounds and 7 assists, performed poorly, pretended to be injured, and left the game early so that no one would blame him.

Feigning injury? Is that necessary?

Stephen A. Smith is the highest-earning basketball commentator. He signed a five-year contract with ESPN worth $105 million. His new three-year contract with SiriusXM is valued at $36 million. Combined with revenue from his YouTube channel and podcast, his annual income approaches $40 million.

Stephen A. Smith is the same commentator who has repeatedly had verbal clashes with LeBron James and was stared down by James at a Lakers game,吓得不敢说话的那位. Probably, he went home late at night, lay in bed kicking the covers, tossing and turning, thinking: I wish I had said that instead.

In a later segment of the program, Stephen A. Smith stated, "If LeBron had put his hand on me, I would have immediately swung at him, absolutely."

I think he is absolutely being事后诸葛亮. If he actually swung at James, his commentator career would essentially be over.

Commentators like him,为了赚钱, need substantial流量和曝光度. This time, jumping out to claim Doncic is feigning injury is overly conspiratorial.

However, on the other hand, if Doncic truly isn't injured, that would be good. But contrary to hopes, Doncic is expected to miss about a month. Teams ranked behind the Lakers include the Nuggets, Rockets, Timberwolves, Suns, and Trail Blazers; facing any of them will be challenging for the Lakers.