Skinny Luka incoming

[Archx]

I don't understand the fascination of Luka Doncic.

Maybe?

[Johnny Firpo]

I don't understand the fascination of Luka Doncic.

Maybe?

I think he meant he is not a fan, and he doesn't think he is a good player (which is obviously a similarly, or actually even weirder take, but maybe he'll explain).

[Backcountry]

It will be interesting to see how, if he stays this size, it affects his game, a good deal of which relies on bodying people to get into scoring position.

[Yuri36]

I think skeptical people are going to far.
He's not a headcase like Zion, he might have needed a reality check but he's a winning player.
Moreover, his out of shape criticism was true, but awfully overstated.

Unfortunately, it was not.
In 30+ years watching NBA, I've basically very rarely seen if not ever a point guard/small forward as unfit and out of shape as him over the last 2/3 years.
And especially among All Stars

[Capn'O]

Good.

This may be too much of a correction but I'm excited to see him taking his health and conditioning seriously.

It will be interesting to see how, if he stays this size, it affects his game, a good deal of which relies on bodying people to get into scoring position.

It will. There may be some drawbacks but this also may just be the first correction. He had gone pretty far afield last season.

[TheGeneral99]

I don't understand the fascination of Luka Doncic.

25 years old, averages nearly a triple double every season, has been phenomenal in the playoffs, led the Mavs to the finals 2 years ago while averaging a historic 34, 10 and 9 statline in the season.

So yes, there is lots of fascination because he's a generational player offensively who has been this good at such a young age despite not being in great shape physically.

[EvanZ]

It will be interesting to see how, if he stays this size, it affects his game, a good deal of which relies on bodying people to get into scoring position.

It's like would Chris Farley have been as funny if he lost the weight?

[Rubios]

Any potential negatives for him getting too skinny?

His strength seems like a plus on offense by letting him bully slimmer guys

This will help him on defense and stamina of course

As a Spaniard, and Luka being Real Madrid's golden boy trophy, I'm so tired of Doncic's off-season photos.
This is the leanest he has been since his sophomore year.
But he has been -let's say- jacked, more muscular, showing definition and (I remember the news) even "a six pack!" -you had to watch very closely to see it- before.

He will not magically become a good or even decent defender. Never has been. Lacks the fundamentals.
He will probably catch less rebounds and his attack style will suffer from the size/strength loss. He doesn't need more speed or explosiveness, at all.
But his gas tank should last the 4 quarters, so I dunno if it's a net plus or minus.

Anyway, he will most likely gain weight during the season. As I've stated before, the whole "Luka work ethic issue" doesn't add up. Except for last season, he has always showed up trimmed.

Isn't it weird that he systematically neglects his nutrition and fitness when in team's discipline?

[Zeno]

besides being obviously thinner, that cover does give a view of the wound that caused his perpetually bloody knee.

[Backcountry]

It will be interesting to see how, if he stays this size, it affects his game, a good deal of which relies on bodying people to get into scoring position.

It's like would Chris Farley have been as funny if he lost the weight?

definitely not in the Chippendales audition sketch!

[Backcountry]

Also interesting that he named MJ and Kobe as his inspirations for putting in the work, saying they " sacrificed a lot". Didn't mention his current teammate....

[CharityStripe34]

Honestly, it's more interesting to me if he's 15-20lbs overweight, drinking beers and going out like a true Balkan/European. The NBA needs more characters. Not the overly sterile robots who say the same things over and over.

[The Laker Kid]

this is more an indictment on america's food supply than anything. luka always slims down in the summer but gets fat during the season eating all the same junk we eat here in the states

He has enough money to supersonic jet his nana's cooking from Ljubljana over to any US city every day.

I already lost 2 lbs trying to pronounce that.

[dhsilv2]

What are the odds of him coming back looking like Shawn Kemp on the Cavs?

Doesn't have the muscle belly's and insertions for that. Also...he'd need a darker tan lol.

[dhsilv2]

"Skinny Luka" is an annual summer tradition
This was 3 years ago for example (he then gained weight during the season, as always)


Maybe this year will be the year who knows, with the trade+criticism
But still, I wouldn't expect it to last long.
Luka is gonna revert back to being himself at some point and enjoy life as he always has.

I mean it helps to stand next to an obese guy vs another nba player.

[dhsilv2]

There may be some lens distortion in that photo. His face looks big compared to his body so I imagine it's shot with a wide angle. I do this with my cat all the time hahaha

His face looks big because for some reason he doesn't really have muscle definition. I assumes he lifting heavy based on those photos but man, he always looks like a dude from the streets with his physique.

They play basketball. Also try filling in 6'7...

[JellosJigglin]

Also interesting that he named MJ and Kobe as his inspirations for putting in the work, saying they " sacrificed a lot". Didn't mention his current teammate....

One of Kobe's last public appearances was at a Mavs game with his daughter Gigi. Luka was Gigi's favorite player. Also Kobe was cursing him out in Slovenian from courtside lol.

Luka recently donated money to repair a Kobe-Gigi mural that far-left terrorists destroyed.

Gigi would've been balling in college by now. She would've brought so much interest to the WNBA.

[Rubios]

"Skinny Luka" is an annual summer tradition
This was 3 years ago for example (he then gained weight during the season, as always)


Maybe this year will be the year who knows, with the trade+criticism
But still, I wouldn't expect it to last long.
Luka is gonna revert back to being himself at some point and enjoy life as he always has.

IMHO, the bolded bit is true.

The underlined sentence... don't you find weird that he takes care of himself while on holidays and "enjoys life" under the team's watch?
Luka is not "stoic" and probably doesn't push himself too hard, but it's blatantly obvious we are missing something.

Maybe he needs a big caloric surplus to recover. Maybe his body can't take the toll of playing AND training during the season, so he basically does very light stuff between games. Maybe competition wrecks his sleep. Maybe his cortisol gets off the roof.
Or maybe he just lacks the willpower and doesn't stick to the discipline.

If you had just ONE proper journalist in the US, he'd come up with a piece that would settle it.

[Yuri36]

I don't understand the fascination of Luka Doncic.

25 years old, averages nearly a triple double every season, has been phenomenal in the playoffs, led the Mavs to the finals 2 years ago while averaging a historic 34, 10 and 9 statline in the season.

So yes, there is lots of fascination because he's a generational player offensively who has been this good at such a young age despite not being in great shape physically.

...and who has already showed at his age a MJ/Lillard level of clutchness both in RS (the comeback against Houston or the buzzer equalizer from almost behind the basket against Portland in his rookie season already ) and playoffs (the buzzer beater against Clippers in the bubble while being almost in one foot, the clutch shot over R.Gobert down the stretch, etc...)

[Ritzo]

Funny thing is, Mavs fans seeing this just going to say, yeh, yeh we've seen it all b4, Laker fans are blah,blah little they know this thread done by a Celtic fan

GoLuka!

Mavs still won the trade

You can't count Coop in that equation (which you likely did).

With or without Coop, Mavs still won the trade