Inside Luka Doncic’s PRP treatment that sent Lakers star to Spain

OKLAHOMA CITY — Lakers superstar Luka Doncic spoke to reporters Wednesday for the first time since he suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain April 2. 

Doncic revealed what led him to seek treatment in Spain to try to expedite his recovery process.

“Yeah, I went to Spain to do PRP,” Doncic said, peeling back the curtain for the first time.“I needed four days in between every shot. So I did it four times.”

PRP — platelet-rich plasma — sounds like something pulled from a medical lab, but it’s rooted in something far more personal: your own blood.

Doctors draw it, spin it in a centrifuge until it separates, then isolate a golden layer dense with platelets — the body’s natural repair crew. Those platelets are rich in growth factors, microscopic messengers that signal damaged tissue to rebuild, regenerate, and recover.

Athletes from all over the world have flocked to Europe to receive it — including Kobe Bryant and Rafael Nadal. 

The logic for Doncic was simple: Inject the PRP directly into his strained hamstring muscle in order to speed up what the body already knows how to do. 

A Grade 2 strain means the muscle fibers were partially torn. It comes with a four-to-eight-week recovery timeline.

Doncic repeatedly said doctors in Dallas told him on April 3 that it would be eight weeks, signaling a significant tear in the muscle. The PRP injections he received in Madrid aimed to shorten that timeline by amplifying inflammation in a controlled environment and jump-starting the tissue repair process.

By the time Game 2 tips off on Thursday, Doncic will be exactly five weeks removed from the injury.

He’s been cleared to begin running, but still has yet to begin 1-on-1 or contact drills, making his return for the Western Conference semifinals against the reigning champion Thunder highly unlikely.

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