Luka has lost so much athleticism at such a young age

[CloudWalker]

It's not just his body, if he's this lazy about staying in shape he's probably lazy about improving his skills too. I know that sounds crazy considering what he can do on the court but he hasn't improved his 3 pt shooting, something he probably should have done by now.

I was thinking about this the other day. I imagine Luka has to have improved at something since he came in the league but I don't really know what it is. Naturally gifted offensive player but where is the work ethic and desire to be the best? Conditioning/body issues aside, It bugs me to see wasted talent. We have the same Luka fans making excuses for him but I've noticed a lot of Lakers fans are seeing this from Luka now that he's on their team and are not especially stoked about it.

Last year Luka averaged 34 points, 9.8 assists and 9.2 rebounds on 61.7 TS%. It was his best season in the NBA. I know Celtics fans like to reduce it to "he was getting hunted in the finals blah blah blah " but he legit had an insane, MVP worthy season. He was also the best player on a team that made it to the finals, so his season was successful both individualy and team-wise. Saying that he hasn't improved over the years is simply not true.

He has clearly worked on and improved his shooting, scoring versatility and decision-making. In his first season he barely had any mid-range game, but he slowly started adding that. His offensive game became more versatile over the years, whereas in the first season he was either shooting a 3 or going to the rim. At some point he also started posting up more, shooting fadeways etc. I would say that his passing game, although elite from the start, has improved as well, but that's more my feeling from watching him play.

Also, the crazy shots he makes (normally in the most important moments too) are a result of a lot of practice. His teammates always talk about how much he's actually practising those crazy shots that people then call "lucky". But they are not, he genuinely practices them all the time.

[7seventynine9]

The BMR for a generic 6'6, 230 pound male at age 26 is only 2137 calories.
Sedentary: 2588
Exercise 1-3 times: 2999
Exercise 4-5 times: 3159
Daily Exercise: 3343
Intense exercise daily: 3720
Very Intense exercise/physical job: 4097.

FYI, Giannis eats 4k calories a day. Giannis is 6'11, 242 pounds, which is only 12 pounds more than Luka according to basketball reference.

I could see Luka having a metabolic rate of 3500-4000 calories a day but yeah, there is 0 chance he has a BMR of 3500. It's not even 2500. It's probably closer to 2000 than 2500.

Yeah, sorry, I meant maintenance there.

y'all hilarious - if Luka was eating 2137 calories a day I would ask if luka was cutting for a body building comp lol.

What's hilarious is you don't know what BMR is. Maybe look it up.

[ILOVEIT]

I'm guessing this has been mentioned but I fear we may find out one day that he is spending time at AA.

[basketballRob]

He has that fat gene.

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[whatisacenter]

He's just a bit fatter now because he was out with an injury. He always starts the season fat and then plays himself into shape (a lot of guys do that). He was just out for most of this season so he couldn't do that.

Shhh. Let the RealGM doctors work please.

Luka Doncic is a fat depressed alcoholic.
That's the diagnosis so far.

Kings fans dodged bullet when they drafted Bagley.

[madmaxmedia]

I think Shaq's career trajectory is a pretty good comparison- in terms of progression of age and mileage. Both were stars right out of the gate and both have or had adequate but not great conditioning. Neither are offseason workaholics, but neither has eaten themselves out of the league either. They are both high usage players, when they play full seasons they endure a lot of physicality and are putting their bodies through a lot.

If you take into account the first year each started playing full NBA-level seasons it puts Luka's timeline 3 years ahead of Shaq, but Luka's game is obviously much more skill-based, so that is an advantage for Luka's timeline.

I think Luka will be absolutely fine through his next max contract which will be a no-brainer for the Lakers to offer. But too much beyond that is icing on the cake, after that contract he will still be a high level player but there will be some fall off. It was still a great trade for the Lakers, especially if some of Lebron's dedication can rub off on Luka.

[Upperclass]

It literally doesn't matter. If he's in shape enough to get his team to the playoffs.. Luka will be a top 3 player in those playoffs where you need to win 12 games to get to a championship round. Not being able to perform well in regular season game 70 probably isn't high up on the list or priorities for certain NBA players.

[tamaraw08]

Yeah, sorry, I meant maintenance there.

y'all hilarious - if Luka was eating 2137 calories a day I would ask if luka was cutting for a body building comp lol.

What's hilarious is you don't know what BMR is. Maybe look it up.

Well DUH
BEER, MARLBORO AND ROAST BEEF.

[JRoy]

He has that fat gene.

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Triple double chin.

[Cavsfansince84]

I am someone who fully believed we were seeing peak rs Luka in his 33ppg seasons when they happened. I mean LeBron probably peaked in the rs at age 24 and Kareem prob did at 24 as well so its not that surprising but Luka just needs to take off season conditioning somewhat seriously. He'll be a viable #1 on a title team until he's 33-34 imo if he just can stay under 250lb but he's going to be giving back a lot on the defensive end if his conditioning is just **** and he loses whatever quickness he had.

[zeebneeb]

Its because the good life has weighed him down.(pun intended)He is, by my estimate, at least 20lbs overweight,(could be upwards of 30lbs)limiting his burst, jump height, speed, defense, and dribbling.

This is on top of his reported heavy drinking(which comes with a bevy of issues including lethargy which is obvious out on the court)eating habits, and, incredibly, smoking.

His chonky ass needs a course correction, and fast. If LeBron can't get him in shape, no one can, and your going to watch a 65% version of Luka until he retires, or drops dead of a coronary on live TV.

[Yoshun]

He spent over two months injured and was pretty much unable to do any conditioning until near the end of the time frame. He was also abruptly traded without notice by the franchise he wanted to spend the rest of his career in.

Also, I keep seeing people reference "reports of heavy drinking," but those "reports" don't seem to have clear sources.

[RRyder823]

He spent over two months injured and was pretty much unable to do any conditioning until near the end of the time frame. He was also abruptly traded without notice by the franchise he wanted to spend the rest of his career in.

Also, I keep seeing people reference "reports of heavy drinking," but those "reports" don't seem to have clear sources.

The source is he's 25 years old. I mean who could believe a 25 year old would like to go out drinking a lot?



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[kazyv]

He spent over two months injured and was pretty much unable to do any conditioning until near the end of the time frame. He was also abruptly traded without notice by the franchise he wanted to spend the rest of his career in.

Also, I keep seeing people reference "reports of heavy drinking," but those "reports" don't seem to have clear sources.

The source is he's 25 years old. I mean who could believe a 25 year old would like to go out drinking a lot?



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???? he's a professional athlete since he was like 13 or 14. he doesn't get here just by showing up and going out drinking on a whim. there's very few people on earth who can claim to have shown more discipline or to have put in more work into their craft than luka

[Yoshun]

He spent over two months injured and was pretty much unable to do any conditioning until near the end of the time frame. He was also abruptly traded without notice by the franchise he wanted to spend the rest of his career in.

Also, I keep seeing people reference "reports of heavy drinking," but those "reports" don't seem to have clear sources.

The source is he's 25 years old. I mean who could believe a 25 year old would like to go out drinking a lot?

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Dude....

[AdamSSSlither]

I really like luka since 2019 but he's just cruising after getting back-stabbed. i dont blame him.
lakers and mav's both dont deserve him anyway.

also- high miles on his body....which is seemingly naturally a 6ft-6" dad bod.
luka signed by real madrid at age 13...turned pro age 16 and 2 months old....10YRS LATER playing nba finals then for slovenia over summer..
really adds up.

luka is a 10yrs pro and average player after 10 yrs is about to be 30yrs old and typically a fall off physically.

BUT ALSO EVEN MORE SO..he's waiting for nba euroleague so he can go back home and still get paid nba $.

america's losing whatever grandiose facade it had left and i expect the world stage to reflect that erosion as it continues.

regardless, luka doesnt need a lot of athleticism to still be fun to watch.

[TheFire]

People clearly here are not aware of how Balkan people age. I mean look at Jokic, he was noticeably quicker the first few years.

[dc]

I think he has a legitimate alcohol and smoking issue. There are plenty of sources you can look up where he's been caught overindulging in these activities during his off-time. I remember this one story from a few years ago when he was playing for the national team during the offseason, he was spotted smoking and drinking beers on the days before important games

In 2022, he was out in Sausalito drinking a beer (who knows how many he had) before game 1 of the WCF. Initially, it was thought this pic was on the day of the game, but it was the day before. Still probably shouldn't be doing that, though. He was out with Boban and Igor.

Read on Twitter

[dc]

yes, Luka's conditioning has been a repetitive pattern for years and you always had to wonder if he would ever take an off-season seriously and try and show up.

Hopefully LeBron can instill some discipline into him, it's hard to say though.

Or just take him to some of those anti-aging clinics in Florida he goes to whenever he needs a quick picker uppper.

[azcatz11]

I am someone who fully believed we were seeing peak rs Luka in his 33ppg seasons when they happened. I mean LeBron probably peaked in the rs at age 24 and Kareem prob did at 24 as well so its not that surprising but Luka just needs to take off season conditioning somewhat seriously. He'll be a viable #1 on a title team until he's 33-34 imo if he just can stay under 250lb but he's going to be giving back a lot on the defensive end if his conditioning is just **** and he loses whatever quickness he had.

Luka doesn't play defense anymore. He's a turn style. He has to be one of the worst defensive players in the league right now. What will motivate him?