Luka Dončić has confirmed he is fully fit again after a summer spent deliberately staying away from the game that consumed his entire season, telling fans his recovery from a serious hamstring injury "went really well" and that he is now "100% healthy."
"I took a real break from basketball in the first weeks after the season ended to recover my body," the Lakers star said, in comments reported by the Israeli outlet ONE. "My recovery went really well and I'm 100% healthy again."
Dončić described the approach as a personal ritual rather than a reaction to the injury that wrecked his 2025-26 playoffs. "Taking a break from basketball is something I do at the beginning of every summer," he said. "It's a different way of doing things, but it works for me. When I allow myself to miss the game a little and try new things, it gives me motivation to return to playing."
The break followed a painful end to the season for the Lakers. Dončić suffered a Grade 2 left hamstring strain on April 2 in a regular-season game against Oklahoma City, an injury later found to be more severe than first believed once he was examined in Spain. It kept him out of the entire playoff run.
Los Angeles got past Houston in six games in the first round without him, but the depleted Lakers were swept 4-0 by the eventual champion Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals, losing the series-ending Game 4 115-110.
Dončić now heads into next season as the Lakers' unquestioned leader after LeBron James, who spent eight seasons in Los Angeles, informed the club in late June that he would not be returning and has since moved on to the Philadelphia 76ers for what will be his 24th NBA season.
The roster around Dončić has also been reshaped over the summer. The Lakers traded center Deandre Ayton, who had spent just one season in Los Angeles, to the Washington Wizards for guard Jaden Hardy — a former Dallas Mavericks teammate of Dončić's — and two future second-round picks, a move that followed the club's acquisition of Walker Kessler from Utah.
ONE's report also noted departures including Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard and Jaxson Hayes as Los Angeles remade its supporting cast around its Slovenian star.
According to the report, Dončić is planning to host a training camp for Lakers teammates in Slovenia in August, reportedly offering to cover the cost of their flights from the United States as he looks to build early chemistry with a retooled roster ahead of training camp.
With his health no longer in question and a full offseason behind him, the 27-year-old now carries the Lakers' hopes as the franchise tries to move past a playoff exit that Dončić could only watch from the sidelines.
