Luka has lost so much athleticism at such a young age

[John Murdoch]

I only really caught onto this a year or so ago but the fall-off really is enormous. He's like 2K with no turbo button now.

IMO not something fixed simply by dropping weight, the wear and tear from all the miles on the clock is showing.

That said, always a fan and his 'old man game' is still elite.

Hurts but truee. Hes also pretty hard headed to where i dont think he will change any of his eating habits tbh

[liquidswords]

This gives some data on how many calories he burns.
https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=metric&age=26&g=male&cm=200&kg=110&act=1.9&bf=12&f=1

Wait you think he's 12 PERCENT BODY FAT?

[MrPainfulTruth]

I'm glad we found this seasons' scapegoat. Now we can move on.

[dhsilv2]

It's not the food. It's the food + heavy alcohol consumption. That combination can easily get you pudgy even with an NBA schedule.

Two things are happening here.

#1 when you drink, the body works to eliminate the booze from your system before it processes food. So what happens? You don't start burning off the food until you are sleeping and burning at a slow rate. This is also the logic behind not eating late at night.

#2 Regular over indulgence creates a body state of increased cortisol. The body stores excess fat as a stress response to cortisol.

It's not so much the occasional clubbing that's the problem here. It's the daily maintenance drinking he's obviously doing. I guarantee it comes out someday that Luka wasted his prime years as a raging alcoholic. It's sad to see. If he quit drinking, he'd drop 30# easily in a matter of months and be back to what he once was.

This is why he was traded. I guarantee the Mavs front office saw a guy that has a problem he refuses to address. The trade to LA should have been a wakeup call. He should have already made major changes and you'd be seeing noticeable results already this season. The fact that he hasn't doesn't give me hope he will all of sudden get his act together this summer. One would have thought a finals loss would have motivated him to change his lifestyle last off season. Nope

Alcohol is food at the end of the day. The body USES alcohol as it's preferred source of energy first, that's why other sources of energy are used after. But if you consume alcohol within your normal calorie needs you'll be fine.

Now...alcohol is a poison, it's terrible for sleep, bad for recovery...it's not a great idea. But we see Lebron showing he can drink a bottle or two of wine without any issues. Luka can do the same thing with beer. It's all about controlling the calories. As long as they are getting good sleep.

ANd countless NBA players have partied too hard, and drank like fish without getting fat.

They may not have got fat, but how did they perform? The only guys I can think of are Vin Baker and Shawn Kemp, but they were alcoholics and it definitely impacted their performance/career archs and they both got fat. I'm not sure anyone is accusing Luka of being an alcohlic, though.

Plus Luka already is fat, so he's shown he can't drink a beer or two without any issues.

Well, is it the beer or is he throwing down a pizza with the beer? If he's having chicken and rice with a beer or 3 after a game...he'll be fine.

Obviously if he's drinking like those two, that a HUGE deal and he needs to get help.

It's a lot of speculation and he got hurt this year and that's a real issue and a lot of athletes get fat when they keep eating like normal while they can't play.

My point was more that we're getting overly scientific with all this cortisol and what not. yeah that's all true, but it's the kinda stuff that really only matters once someone's actually in shape. And it's not going to prevent an elite athlete from getting to 15% body fat. The calories are going to do that.

[dhsilv2]

This gives some data on how many calories he burns.
https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=metric&age=26&g=male&cm=200&kg=110&act=1.9&bf=12&f=1

Wait you think he's 12 PERCENT BODY FAT?

I think that's the "goal" body fat which is reasonable. 10-15 for an NBA player should be pretty acceptable.

[pipfan]

This and his incessant whining are why he's my least favorite current star. Just get in shape (Zion too)-there's NO excuse

[NYPiston]

Luka has generation basketball IQ so even with diminished athleticism he's going to be a top 5 player for a very long time. He relies less on athleticism than just about any other player in the league, he and Jokic.

[Me Like Lakers]

Well then, sorry to say this, but you know very little about fitness. You can easily "outeat" an active lifestyle, or even an athlete's lifestyle. Luka's maintenance is likely around 3000 calories, you can easily eat that. A large cheat meal is like 1800-2000 alone.

There is absolutely no way a pro athlete with high body mass like NBA players has a maintenance calorie intake of 3k. Hell, his BRM alone is probably over 2k.

Most bodybuilders go down to like 2500 calories on a cut, at the end even less, and they have much more muscle mass than a basketball player. A 3000 maintenance could absolutely be accurate, especially since he looks to have pretty crap metabolism. Maybe it's 3300 or a maximum or 3500, my point still the same. It's very easy to eat that on a regular basis. On my cheating day I usually eat 4500-5000 kcal very easily, without actually doing much fast food, if any at all.

During cutting periods, where bodybuilders with different objectives go to extremes, yeah, of course. But that is not the case here.

But I totally agree it's not hard to eat 4k kcal a day, especially if you don't mind about their quality, I just don't see Luka having that "low" of a calorie daily expenditure.

[SkyBill40]

Doncic is very fundamentally sound as is typical of Euro basketball players. I would have never classified him as being very athletically gifted, although he obviously has enough to be successful in this league. While most American players get by on raw athleticism or speed, Doncic gets by on guile and craftiness.

[Me Like Lakers]

Muscle mass effect on BMR is overstated, no way Lukas maintenance is 3000 kcals, just no way, I'm 6'4", work a desk job, work out 3 times a week, moderate weights, much older than Luka, and my maintenance is 3000.

Again, doesn't really matter for my point. Let's say it's 3500, 3800 or even 4000 (there is absolutely no way it's more than that), you can still eat that regularly, very easily, if you are a big guy. I know, because I'm also one, just like you (6'5'' 260 at the moment, about 23% body fat) and Luka. For us, a 1000 calorie meal is not that much, we can easily gulp three of those down in a day, then some snacks and stuff. My maintenance is around 2900 btw, but it was actually worse than that like 2 years ago, when I was really, really fat. Also, can you link a study that doesn't link muscle mass and metabolic rate? Because I hear it from every expert that having a higher amount of muscle mass always increases your basic caloric need.

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.

But nobody said his BRM was over 2~2.5k, only that it is really improbable that his total daily kcal expenditure, being a pro athlete, is around 3k.

[tamaraw08]

Muscle mass effect on BMR is overstated, no way Lukas maintenance is 3000 kcals, just no way, I'm 6'4", work a desk job, work out 3 times a week, moderate weights, much older than Luka, and my maintenance is 3000.

Again, doesn't really matter for my point. Let's say it's 3500, 3800 or even 4000 (there is absolutely no way it's more than that), you can still eat that regularly, very easily, if you are a big guy. I know, because I'm also one, just like you (6'5'' 260 at the moment, about 23% body fat) and Luka. For us, a 1000 calorie meal is not that much, we can easily gulp three of those down in a day, then some snacks and stuff. My maintenance is around 2900 btw, but it was actually worse than that like 2 years ago, when I was really, really fat. Also, can you link a study that doesn't link muscle mass and metabolic rate? Because I hear it from every expert that having a higher amount of muscle mass always increases your basic caloric need.

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.

How do you spell OZEMPIC?

[Mr B]

I say this as someone who thinks Luka is the 2nd best player in the world after Jokic but it’s not just that he’s not as thin as he used to be. He flat out looks sick and unhealthy. Just compare how his face looked back then compared to now. Watching that video is just depressing. I don’t know what could cause such a steep decline in a very short period of time. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was something nefarious. That version of Luka with 5 years of experience under his belt could average a 40 point triple double. That would be the league’s worst nightmare

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

What do you think these guys do when they say they're going to the clubs etc? You think they're all drinking spring water or something? You think they don't go out...like A LOT.

I tell you what, for all you know he doesn't drink/smoke as much as the next dude in the NBA, but just doesn't put the work in to get it off. Plenty of sauces where he's been caught overindulging. Stop making crap up man.

Oh what? That's insane. He was "spotted", wait for it, smoking, and drinking, on the days BEFORE important games? Quick, someone call the authorities.
So let me get this straight, if someone smoked before, like days as you say, like on a Wednesday when the game is on a Friday or Saturday, then...what?
FFS guys are smoking weed in the NBA on the morning of games.

So if it’s not alcohol and smoking what’s the cause of his rapid athletic decline? If it’s alcohol and smoking that’s something that can be corrected. If it’s something else that’s causing it, that’s not good at all.

[bledredwine]

Nico was cooking something. I’m not saying he made a 5 star meal, he used way too much seasoning and spilled the dish all over the counter. But there is undeniably something to the Luka decline.

This argument loses all credibility when you compare what they got for Luka vs What they could have got for Luka

Winner winner chicken dinner.

[Mr B]

Nico was cooking something. I’m not saying he made a 5 star meal, he used way too much seasoning and spilled the dish all over the counter. But there is undeniably something to the Luka decline.

Trading Luka is completely defendable.

The return they got for Luka was a joke. I bet 99% of casual Lakers fan even think it’s a bad deal for Dallas. Worst deal in NBA history for a superstar at the time of trade.

Im confused. So it wasn't a bad deal for Dallas?

Yes because of the return. It’s the worst trade the NBA based on what they got for Luka.

[Mr B]

I think we should wait into the next season to judge him. He needs an offseason to get his health and fitness in check. And one would think, Lebron could help him there. Hopefully Luka gets into HGH (or GH peptides) and EPO.

But yes, the fear is legitimate, that he peaked last year and is on the decline, especially if he is unwilling to take undetectable PEDs (like the ones I mentioned above).

Luka’s weight is the craziest thing I’ve seen from an NBA player, especially and elite NBA player.

Literally every off season Luka getting amazing shape prior. He usually goes straight from the NBA to his National Team. When he’s done playing for them he takes a long break and then prepares for his NBA season. He almost always shows up thinner and in great shape. Then for some reason during the season he puts on weight. By mid season you can tell his conditioning is suffering by the 4th quarter of games. He’s been this way since about his 3rd-4th season.

It’s something he will have to get in check if he wants to play 20 years in the NBA. At this rate he may not make it to 10 years in the NBA.

[Mr B]

It kind of blows my mind that any player could eat so much to get fat, assuming they are doing the work outs and practices I assume they are.

During training Michael Phelps had to eat a ridiculous amount of food to not massively lose weight with the amount of time he spent swimming every day.

I could see players gaining a bit of weight in the off-season, but it just doesn't seem like it's possible during the season.

It's not the food. It's the food + heavy alcohol consumption. That combination can easily get you pudgy even with an NBA schedule.

Two things are happening here.

#1 when you drink, the body works to eliminate the booze from your system before it processes food. So what happens? You don't start burning off the food until you are sleeping and burning at a slow rate. This is also the logic behind not eating late at night.

#2 Regular over indulgence creates a body state of increased cortisol. The body stores excess fat as a stress response to cortisol.

It's not so much the occasional clubbing that's the problem here. It's the daily maintenance drinking he's obviously doing. I guarantee it comes out someday that Luka wasted his prime years as a raging alcoholic. It's sad to see. If he quit drinking, he'd drop 30# easily in a matter of months and be back to what he once was.

This is why he was traded. I guarantee the Mavs front office saw a guy that has a problem he refuses to address. The trade to LA should have been a wakeup call. He should have already made major changes and you'd be seeing noticeable results already this season. The fact that he hasn't doesn't give me hope he will all of sudden get his act together this summer. One would have thought a finals loss would have motivated him to change his lifestyle last off season. Nope

I wonder if the distractions and LA nightlife will feed in to his drinking problem.

[Godymas]

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.

Luka when he was young was really quite skinny, he's clearly bulked up on weight but he's also carrying a lot of unnecessary fat too.

I mean, maybe it never holds him back. It's been said that Jokic needed to tone up a little bit, and yet here he is with the same slight flab on his frame and playing a career high 36 mpg.

[Mr B]

Dirk was the same. He was super athletic in his first season, and then he drastically slowed down. It did not stop him; he became a more dominant player and was more patient. The difference between him and Luka was the work ethic.

Dirk never put on weight like Luka has, especially never put on weight during the season.

[dWadeOwnzYou]

No way he moved that quick in the video. I mean, that's prime Drose quick. I'm willing to bet that the video is sped up.

[SkyBill40]

Again, doesn't really matter for my point. Let's say it's 3500, 3800 or even 4000 (there is absolutely no way it's more than that), you can still eat that regularly, very easily, if you are a big guy. I know, because I'm also one, just like you (6'5'' 260 at the moment, about 23% body fat) and Luka. For us, a 1000 calorie meal is not that much, we can easily gulp three of those down in a day, then some snacks and stuff. My maintenance is around 2900 btw, but it was actually worse than that like 2 years ago, when I was really, really fat. Also, can you link a study that doesn't link muscle mass and metabolic rate? Because I hear it from every expert that having a higher amount of muscle mass always increases your basic caloric need.

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.

How do you spell OZEMPIC?

Pretty sure you got it right. LOL