Lakers Get Shocking Austin Reaves Injury Update

The Los Angeles Lakers were riding one of the hottest streaks in the NBA, winning 13 of their last 14 games to sit third in the Western Conference. Then came a 43-point blowout loss to Oklahoma City, Luka Doncic going down with a hamstring injury and now being ruled out for the rest of the season, and now this.

ESPN's Shams Charania posted on X: "Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury and is out for the remainder of the regular season."

Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury and is out for the remainder of the regular season.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 4, 2026

It all started when Reaves reached back going for a loose ball and felt something in his midsection. He left in the first quarter but returned and finished with a team-high 15 points. After the game, he tried to stay positive.

"I went back to get a rebound, overextended a little bit, and I felt something," Reaves said. "But I feel decent right now, so we'll see."

The MRI process itself was a mess. Reaves had to get scanned twice because the Dallas imaging facility scanned the wrong area the first time. "I don't know where the chain of command lies with Dallas imaging, but they scanned the wrong area," head coach JJ Redick said.

"The second [MRI] was today. Again, I don't know where the chain of command lies with Dallas imaging, but uh they scanned the wrong area. Not on our end. We made it explicit what was supposed to be scanned but they scanned the wrong area." JJ Redick on Austin Reaves' MRI https://t.co/JweK8oI1aZ pic.twitter.com/SPcM0hvb0v
— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) April 4, 2026

The second scan likely delivered the bad news.

Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic Both Out for the Lakers

This is now a two-star injury problem for Los Angeles. Luka Doncic is also out for the rest of the regular season after suffering a Grade 2 left hamstring strain in that same Thunder game. He was averaging 33.5 points, 8.3 assists, and 7.7 rebounds per game and had just won Western Conference Player of the Month for March.

Reaves, 27, was having a career-best season of his own, putting up 23.3 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game. The two of them had been the engine behind that late-season run, with LeBron James settling into a third option role.

Now LeBron has to carry a much bigger load alongside Rui Hachimura, Luke Kennard, and Deandre Ayton. Marcus Smart is also dealing with an ankle injury, so the depth is stretched thin right now.

The Lakers have five games left in the regular season and a one-game lead over Denver for the third seed. Both Doncic and Reaves are now question marks heading into the playoffs, which begin in roughly two weeks. How healthy they are by then will likely decide how far this team goes.

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