When the Lakers traded for Luka Dončić in the wee hours of Feb. 2, the immediate thought was that it was a fake report. After a few minutes and confirmation, reality set in, and the next immediate question that swirled in the wake of perhaps the most shocking trade in NBA history was why would the Dallas Mavericks trade Dončić?
They just reached the NBA Finals eight months prior because of Dončić’s brilliance. He was rehabilitating a calf strain suffered on Christmas Day, but leading up to the trade, he made progress to return soon. There was no indication that things so quickly soured between the Mavericks and their franchise star, and judging from Dončić’s retelling of his reaction to the trade in which he broke his phone in hearing of the news, he wasn’t angling to leave Dallas.
Then Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison held his first press conference since spearheading the trade. Harrison repeatedly said, “defense wins championships” in response to why the Mavericks felt the need to trade Dončić, taking a jab at his subpar effort on that end of the floor. Harrison said Anthony Davis — who the Mavs acquired in the trade — fit the culture of what the Mavericks were trying to do. Then the reports came out about how Dallas was fed up with Dončić’s lack of conditioning. His affinity for drinking beer and smoking hookah were reported as things that bothered Harrison, as well as the Slovenian superstar’s subpar commitment to physical fitness over the course of a season and offseason.
Dončić’s conditioning became the main focus everyone latched onto after the trade happened. As the Lakers cratered out of the first round of the playoffs, some agreed with Harrison’s assessment that Dončić needed to be in better shape to win at the highest level. Others thought the superstar guard would use all this negative reporting about his fitness level as motivation to come back even stronger, and it appears that may be the case.
In an interview with Men’s Health, Dončić detailed the changes he’s made this summer to feel “more rested” and in a way that he hasn’t felt in years. He’s adopted a gluten-free, low-sugar diet, while working out twice a day.
“Just visually, I would say my whole body looks better,” Dončić said about his offseason transformation.
There are online rumblings about Dončić appearing to look slimmer than he has before. And while for Mavericks fans that isn’t anything new as he typically sheds weight before bulking up again at the start of the season, it appears as though this summer is different.
After a season in which Dončić averaged the fewest points of his career since his rookie campaign, was heavily limited due to a nagging calf strain and experienced a life-altering situation in which he was traded out of nowhere from the team that he’s only ever been loyal to, it appears as though all that turbulence has motivated him.
“So every summer I try my best to work on different things,” Dončić said. “Obviously, I’m very competitive. This summer was just a little bit different, you know. It kind of motivated me to be even better.”
When you hear enough times that you’re out of shape and that you lack of commitment to physical fitness would be a problem for the rest of your career, at some point you have to decide to make a change. Dončić obviously has, and the fact that he already has a Hall of Fame-worthy career while not taking the health side all that seriously should be terrifying for the rest of the league.
We’ll get to see Dončić’s new form when he competes with Slovenia at the 2025 EuroBasket starting on August 27, but the real test will come when the next NBA season starts.
“This year, with my team, I think we did a huge step,” Dončić said. “But this is just the start, you know. I need to keep going. Can’t stop.”
