Stephen A. Smith thought Luka Dončić might have been faking injury

Luka Dončić’s injury might be bad news for the Los Angeles Lakers, but at least it sort of stopped Stephen A. Smith from calling him a fraud.

Dončić left the Lakers’ 136-96 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night early because of a left hamstring injury. He appeared to tweak the hamstring in the first half, with the Lakers already being blown out by Oklahoma City. But the Lakers cleared Dončić and opted to begin the second half with their regular starters to see if they could make a quick run at cutting into their deficit.

With more than seven minutes left in the third quarter, and the Lakers losing 90-58, Dončić injured his hamstring to the point of needing to exit the game, putting the remainder of his regular season in doubt. And Friday morning on ESPN’s First Take, Stephen A. Smith explained why that was a good thing for Dončić.

“It’s a good thing that Luka actually got hurt and had to get taken out in the third quarter,” Smith told Kendrick Perkins on First Take. “Because when we saw him holding his hamstring in the first half, a lot of us were like, ‘Wait a minute now, that wasn’t happening when you were dropping 30-plus the last 12, 13, 15 games. But suddenly, now your damn hamstring is hurt.’

“We were looking at it with a raised eyebrow. Because an a** kicking will do that to you. It will make you humble, it will make you run for cover, it will make you want to run to the locker room, it will make you pretend that you gotta use the bathroom, it will make you pretend that you got a family emergency just to get away from those confines. That’s the kind of a** whipping we saw last night.”

In hindsight, the Lakers probably would have been better off sitting Dončić for the second half after appearing to tweak his hamstring earlier in the game. And if the Lakers did that, Stephen A. Smith is admitting he would have accused Dončić of faking an injury.

Smith had similarly ridiculous commentary on NBA player injuries during the playoffs last season. He ripped then-Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland for missing playoff games with a toe injury. On the contrary, he also ripped Indiana Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton for playing with an injury during the NBA Finals.

NBA teams have opened the door to unjust criticism of players regarding injuries due to load management. But Dončić was clearly hampered at times against the Thunder Thursday night, not that his injury was the reason for their blowout loss.

The injury comes at a terrible time for the Lakers as they gear up for a playoff run. It also comes at a terrible time for Luka. With just 64 games under his belt this season, the injury could take Dončić out of MVP consideration if he doesn’t return before the playoffs. The NBA requires players to appear in a minimum of 64 regular-season games to qualify for any league awards. He’s just lucky Stephen A. Smith witnessed the injury. Because otherwise, Smith was ready to accuse Dončić of being a faker.