Here's How Luka Dončić Got that Huge Scratch He Had During the Warriors Game
Luka Dončić's face was scratched during his first game against the Warriors, but what happened to him to make the injury possible?
May 19 2022, Published 10:33 a.m. ET
As one of the most exciting players in the NBA, Luka Dončić always attracts a significant amount of attention. As his team, the Dallas Mavericks, take on the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, the stakes could hardly be higher. During the first game in the series, which Dallas lost 112-87, Luka wound up with a scratch on his face, and many wondered how that happened.
What happened to Luka Dončić?
Many fans who caught up with the game after it aired live noticed that, just minutes into it, Luka could be seen sporting a pretty large scratch across his face. The scratch happened with more than eight minutes left in the first quarter, and was just the result of regular play. Luka was attempting a crossover on Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins when Andrew went for the ball and accidentally scratched him across the face with his left hand.
Following the incidents, images of Luka's face began to spread across social media, and broadcaster Reggie Miller even made a joke suggesting that Andrew needed to cut his nails.
Thankfully, though, the incident was just an accident and didn't impact Luka's ability to play. He scored 18 points in the first half, but only two in the second, finishing the game with 20.
Luka joked about the scratch after the game.
Following the Mavericks loss, Luka joked about the scratch during a press conference. When he was asked about the scratch, he said, "It's good, makes me look tough."
During the game, some fans also noticed Luka pulling at his right shoulder in apparent discomfort, but Luka said at the press conference that his shoulder wasn't going to impact his ability to play moving forward.
“I felt a little pain when I shot,” the basketball star explained. “But it’s OK. It’s fine. We’ll get some treatment, and it’ll be fine.”
Luka and the Mavericks are on the road for Game 2 of the series, where they will hope to improve on their performance in the first game and tie the series up as the vie for a spot in the championship.
Lebron James said Luka was his favorite player.
Even though he's just 23 years old, Luka has already emerged as one of the biggest stars in the NBA, and now, he's been recognized by the league's biggest star as well. Lebron James held a wide-ranging Q&A session Twitter recently, and when he was asked to his favorite player under 25 was, he named Luka, and added that the Dallas Mavericks star was his favorite player, period.
Lebron also addressed a wide range of other topics, including a question from Tom Brady about who would win in an ice hockey shootout (Lebron thinks he would win, but only narrowly).
Lebron's love for Luka, and for basketball in general, was evident in the Q&A, but he'll have to watch this season from the sidelines as, unlike Luka, his team was unable to make it into the playoffs.
