Thoughts on this reddit post about Luka's athletic regression?

[guynumber45]

He doesn't dominate inside the arc like he used to. Hopefully, Luka will use this offseason to regain some of that burst he had in his earlier years.

[AmIWrongDude]

Not sure about the stats but it seems like lately hes been going off early in the game and dwindling ad the game goes on. Usually a sign of poor conditioning.

[doogie_hauser]

The sad/unfortunate truth for Luka and Lakers fans is he isn't going to get any more athletic or trim than he is now. He is very close to the peak of his athletic prime.

[guynumber45]

Luka will be at a crossroads for this upcoming offseason. If he doesn't look to maximize his body after having all the motivation in the world from the constant slander by the Mavericks front office, I fear the decline will be sooner than expected.

Guys like Tatum and Shai are not as talented as Luka, but they have been slowly improving their game year by year to the point where they have closed the gap and can be argued as the superior players.

[Wallace_Wallace]

Luka will be at a crossroads for this upcoming offseason. If he doesn't look to maximize his body after having all the motivation in the world from the constant slander by the Mavericks front office, I fear the decline will be sooner than expected.

Guys like Tatum and Shai are not as talented as Luka, but they have been slowly improving their game year by year to the point where they have closed the gap and can be argued as the superior players.

Losing in the finals is motivating enough for most lol

[HotRocks34]

Luka will be at a crossroads for this upcoming offseason. If he doesn't look to maximize his body after having all the motivation in the world from the constant slander by the Mavericks front office, I fear the decline will be sooner than expected.

What you fear or don't fear doesn't matter here.

Luka came into the Orlando game averaging 31/8/8 in March on a .604 TS.

He had 32/7/7 tonight. He wasn't great from the field but was 40% from three and 10-11 on free throws. His TS% was, I believe, .575. The league average this year is .576.

He also had at least his third 20 point half in the last two weeks.

[Raps in 4]

Luka will be at a crossroads for this upcoming offseason. If he doesn't look to maximize his body after having all the motivation in the world from the constant slander by the Mavericks front office, I fear the decline will be sooner than expected.

Guys like Tatum and Shai are not as talented as Luka, but they have been slowly improving their game year by year to the point where they have closed the gap and can be argued as the superior players.

Luka has been fat since he entered the league. Him being out of shape is nothing new. His game doesn't rely on athleticism even a little so he can play with the extra weight. Guys like Luka, Jokic, Harden, etc. can look like baseball players and still have long, productive careers because of how they play.

[The-Stallion70]

He averaged 32 8 and 9 while "fat"? How are all these skinny mfs doing?

[Wallace_Wallace]

Luka will be at a crossroads for this upcoming offseason. If he doesn't look to maximize his body after having all the motivation in the world from the constant slander by the Mavericks front office, I fear the decline will be sooner than expected.

Guys like Tatum and Shai are not as talented as Luka, but they have been slowly improving their game year by year to the point where they have closed the gap and can be argued as the superior players.

Luka has been fat since he entered the league. Him being out of shape isn't new. His game doesn't rely on athleticism even a little so he can play with the extra weight. Guys like Luka, Jokic, Harden, etc. can look like baseball players and still have long, productive careers because of how they play.

Then there’s a certain style he needs to play/change in order to win. LeBron to a point can be an offball player at the dunker spot, what can Luka do without the ball? It’s very rare for a heliocentric player to win a ring, especially when he’s a traffic cone on defense.

[Jables]

Athleticism as we think of it (explosiveness) is talked about too much, who cares if you get to the basket .5 seconds faster if you miss it? Even the most unprofessional stars in history basically play themselves into a weight where they can manage their stamina through the game. Okay besides Zion.

The bad sign is obviously that they aren't putting as much focus into their career as they should, but let's face it, guys like that still get rings, the manic Jordan/Mamba thing worked for them but Doncic ain't playing against Kobe or Jordan.