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

[guynumber45]

The person who wrote the post says that they are a Luka fan but doesn't seem to understand his game, his arc or his development.

The post isn't worthless, because it points out some statistical changes, but it's next to useless because it doesn't grasp why things have happened and instead falls into a lazy "get in shape" false narrative. It's Nico-esque.

Luka drives less to preserve his body now, which is a typical progression for players. Luka has been a pro for longer than he's been in the NBA and this is his 7th NBA season.

Luka gets beaten up a lot. Kidd has talked about this. And Luka plays a power game that relies on strength. The bulk pads you on collisions and gives you more strength when you lower your shoulder to create separation. Fat Kevin Love vs Skinny Kevin Love.

Also Luka gets injured a lot because he plays a lot of minutes and he's very physical on drives. Taking more perimeter shots eases the strain on the body over the long haul.

Luka's greatest athletic trait is his deceleration. If he continues to stay overweight, his hamstrings will be cooked by the time he is in his 30s just like Harden.

[AussieCeltic]

Offensively he doesn’t need athleticism but he’s a sieve on D and I think most of that comes down to conditioning. It won’t get any better unless he gets in some shape.

[Accurim]

hes been adopting this slow playstyle more and more since his 1st year.

luka purposely plays slow, hes baiting defenders to slow down.

you can only evaluate lukas speed by the very short burst he uses to drive and get a slight driving angle. he doesnt need to be a step ahead, if your on his hip he'll be physical the entire drive to get where he wants.

also i can name a lot of players more athletic in years 1-3 than in year 4+. luka cant compete in a speed game, its better for him to adopt the slow playstyle and dunk less.

i mean, even if you want to critique him, you still have to remember he's at worst, top5 young playoff performer in the NBA, coming off a finals appearance.

[John Murdoch]

He rushed back from calf strain . One upside is he hasnt peaked in reg season so his legs could be fresh for playoffs. His goal should be back to his Sophmore season weight

[Shock Defeat]

Nico will be proven right. Luka is on the decline and doesn't have the work ethic to turn things around

[1993Playoffs]

Yeah I said in another thread. He looks worse athletically than he did a few years ago,

That’s concerning because these should be his peak athletic years.

[Pablo Escobar]

He looks like a completely different player than the one we saw in the bubble. Still was strong but was quick and got to the basket with ease. Now he's just fat lol. He needs to seriously drop some pounds and take his conditioning seriously.

[HotRocks34]

The person who wrote the post says that they are a Luka fan but doesn't seem to understand his game, his arc or his development.

The post isn't worthless, because it points out some statistical changes, but it's next to useless because it doesn't grasp why things have happened and instead falls into a lazy "get in shape" false narrative. It's Nico-esque.

Luka drives less to preserve his body now, which is a typical progression for players. Luka has been a pro for longer than he's been in the NBA and this is his 7th NBA season.

Luka gets beaten up a lot. Kidd has talked about this. And Luka plays a power game that relies on strength. The bulk pads you on collisions and gives you more strength when you lower your shoulder to create separation. Fat Kevin Love vs Skinny Kevin Love.

Also Luka gets injured a lot because he plays a lot of minutes and he's very physical on drives. Taking more perimeter shots eases the strain on the body over the long haul.

Luka's greatest athletic trait is his deceleration. If he continues to stay overweight, his hamstrings will be cooked by the time he is in his 30s just like Harden.

The people in this thread don't seem to know what they're talking about, and that includes the Reddit poster. I accept that.

Luka got off rhythm this year because he got hurt in training camp after a long Finals run and playing for Slovenia in the summer. And now he's on a new team. So his numbers are down but what he's trying to do with his game seems fairly clear.

This is Steve Kerr talking about Luka last year.

[Raps in 4]

Nico clearly knew what he was doing. All you haters owe him an apology.

[HotRocks34]

Nico clearly knew what he was doing. All you haters owe him an apology.

Absolutely.

One of the two guys he's relying on just blew an ACL and the other has played in one game since the trade, which he got hurt in. Meanwhile, the fat guy he traded has been playing and his team is the #2 or #3 seed.

An overwhelming success so far for Nico.

[LewisnotMiller]

There were 2 components to trading Luka
1. Dallas deciding to trade Luka.
2. Dallas deciding to accept LA's package after deciding to trade Luka.

The former was wrong but you can at least understand the thinking. The later is deranged and will never make sense.

Exactly this.

[LewisnotMiller]

Offensively he doesn’t need athleticism but he’s a sieve on D and I think most of that comes down to conditioning. It won’t get any better unless he gets in some shape.

Pretty sure Jaylen (amongst others) has a goal of just wearing him down through games and accepting that Luka's otherworldly talent will be enough to mean that doesn't always work. But over a series...and then another...and then another...it's problematic for Luka.

[XTC]

Lmao...

QUOTE ME

Hes gonna average 30/8/8 next season. He's clearly still hurt. If he was ona team who wasn't competing for a spot, he would be sitting. Hes fine.

[HotRocks34]

For the "Luka defense" people, this is the chart for Dallas' Individual DRTG in The Finals. The Team DRTG stats are similar.

[Mavrelous]

Luka started looking unathletic in 22/23 season and was more unathletic last year, his best and most dominant year in the league.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Luka started looking unathletic in 22/23 season and was more unathletic last year, his best and most dominant year in the league.

I think the real question is, how good would he be if he took his conditioning and body more seriously. It's no different than Zion, these guys are incredible while being out of shape, so what would a 225-230lbs Luka be like if he dropped some fat and increased muscle mass.

[Mavrelous]

Luka started looking unathletic in 22/23 season and was more unathletic last year, his best and most dominant year in the league.

I think the real question is, how good would he be if he took his conditioning and body more seriously. It's no different than Zion, these guys are incredible while being out of shape, so what would a 225-230lbs Luka be like if he dropped some fat and increased muscle mass.

We have an answer, it was Luka last year, he came in great shape, and dominated from the get go.
The shape he came in this season (and in 21, when he came in even worse shape) is disappointing, I hope he grows up, he should be better, but he's nowhere near Zion, I sincerely think he was the best player in the league last year.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Luka started looking unathletic in 22/23 season and was more unathletic last year, his best and most dominant year in the league.

I think the real question is, how good would he be if he took his conditioning and body more seriously. It's no different than Zion, these guys are incredible while being out of shape, so what would a 225-230lbs Luka be like if he dropped some fat and increased muscle mass.

We have an answer, it was Luka last year, he came in great shape, and dominated from the get go.
The shape he came in this season (and in 21, when he came in even worse shape) is disappointing, I hope he grows up, he should be better, but he's nowhere near Zion, I sincerely think he was the best player in the league last year.

He had much better conditioning last season, but what I mean is, I want to see Luka come back one season completely ripped and have HGH / steroid allegations Luka with a body fat percentage down to like Jimmy Butler levels, where you see visible striations, and his face looks like it did when he was 20. What does this theoretical Luka play like, with much more quickness and similar strength.

[Mavrelous]

I think the real question is, how good would he be if he took his conditioning and body more seriously. It's no different than Zion, these guys are incredible while being out of shape, so what would a 225-230lbs Luka be like if he dropped some fat and increased muscle mass.

We have an answer, it was Luka last year, he came in great shape, and dominated from the get go.
The shape he came in this season (and in 21, when he came in even worse shape) is disappointing, I hope he grows up, he should be better, but he's nowhere near Zion, I sincerely think he was the best player in the league last year.

He had much better conditioning last season, but what I mean is, I want to see Luka come back one season completely ripped and have HGH / steroid allegations Luka with a body fat percentage down to like Jimmy Butler levels, where you see visible striations, and his face looks like it did when he was 20. What does this theoretical Luka play like, with much more quickness and similar strength.

Yeah, he was beating people off the dribble, and dunking on people, it was the most fun version, I don't think this version is coming back, but make no mistake, last year version was much more effective

[HotRocks34]

"Luka's out of shape."

Here are the mpg stats in the playoffs last year. Recall that he had multiple injuries in the playoffs last season, led the playoffs in Total PTS/REB/AST and was, I believe, a net positive on defense during the postseason.



You can't play those kinds of minutes and be that effective, while hurt, if you're not in shape.

Does Luka get out of shape at times? He does. But he's never had a major injury and he's in shape when it counts.

Luka was overworked in Dallas. He's lucky he didn't get hurt from that, as Kyrie sadly just did.

To be fair, if Luka would stop playing in the summer that would help him recover. But I doubt it's going to happen.