Devastating Luka Doncic injury is a double gut-punch for Mavericks fans

In the midst of a furious push up the MVP ladder, with the gauntlet of the Western Conference playoffs approaching, Luka Doncic suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain on Thursday night. His injury was not only devastating to the Lakers, but it was a double gut-punch to Dallas Mavericks fans.

Not only is it sad for every Mavericks fan who still roots for Doncic -- which is most of them, it appears -- but his injury will have a secondary ripple effect that is less obvious but no less true: Doncic has probably now locked up Rookie of the Year for Kon Knueppel, not Cooper Flagg.

Luka Doncic's injury hurts

The first impact is self-evident: for everyone wanting Dallas's former son to do well, his injury slams the door shut on every good thing within his reach for this season. He played in just 64 games, making him ineligible for end of year awards such as the MVP ballot and All-NBA First Team. It also appears likely that he will miss the start of the postseason, lowering the chances that the Los Angeles Lakers can advance. If the Mavericks can't win, why can't Luka? Now that hope is snuffed out.

It also impacts Mavericks fans directly and immediately, as the Lakers come to town this weekend and it was a chance for fans to see Luka in-person and see how he measures up against his replacement, Cooper Flagg. Hopefully, Flagg dominates the Lakers, but doing that against Jake LaRavia doesn't have the same impact as doing it in a head-to-head showdown with Luka Doncic.

Mavs fans are bummed on Doncic's behalf, then, of course. But could his injury impact another race near and dear to the hearts of Mavericks fans, Rookie of the Year? It absolutely could.

Doncic has locked up Rookie of the Year for Kon Knueppel

There is an intense battle between former Duke teammates Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel for the Rookie of the Year award. Both fan bases are quite convinced that their player clearly deserves the award. Flagg is the better prospect and has historic scoring performances under his belt, including the youngest 50-point game in NBA history just this weekend.

Kon Knueppel's case is that he has the best shooting season of any rookie in NBA history, playing for a good Charlotte Hornets team that is competing for a playoff berth. Historic season on a good team beats historic season on a tanking team, many would say -- despite team success rarely playing into this particular award.

Knueppel is the frontrunner according to betting markets and a recent ESPN straw poll of likely voters that is usually spot-on with its predictions. A core foundational piece of his candidacy is that Knueppel has not only set the rookie record for made 3-pointers in a season, but he is leading all NBA players in 3-pointers. It's a tidy headline for giving him the Rookie of the Year.

Knueppel has hit 264 3-pointers this year, which leads the NBA. Second on that list is Luka Doncic, and the Lakers star was on a tear recently and closing the gap. As Knueppel's play down the stretch was tailing off ever-so-slightly, Doncic was on track to catch him. Take away that headline achievement of leading the league in triples, and suddenly, one of the legs of Knueppel's ROY argument is taken away.

Now Knueppel has essentially locked up that distinction, and in the process has probably locked up Rookie of the Year. If Flagg drops 50 a few more times, perhaps he can arrest the gaze of voters in time, but given Knueppel's lead and his historic achievement, he is a massive favorite to win the award.

If Doncic had stayed healthy, perhaps he and Flagg together could have worked to take Knueppel down. Now that's not possible, and Mavericks fans will be double disappointed at the end of the year.

It was a double gut-punch of an injury for Dallas fans.