One of the biggest stories of the offseason was the physical transformation of Los Angeles Lakers superstar guard Luka Doncic who notably lost weight and got into the best shape of his career. His commitment to this is right in line with what his teammate LeBron James has been all about for basically his entire career.
There will be a lot of benefits for Doncic in being in better shape and while many focus on his stamina on the court, James sees another area will it will help him greatly. In the latest episode of the “Mind the Game” podcast, James believes Doncic being in better shape will help with his recovery between games:
“Yeah, for sure. I watched a lot of the EuroBasket this summer too. I watched his team a lot, obviously, him being my teammate and him seeing how he can carry a Slovenian team to whatever heights he did. He was right there with Germany in the semis. He just looks, obviously, a little bit quicker, a little bit more functional. But I think more importantly, I think what a lot of people will not see is the recovery now. I think when your body is in top tier shape and you feel so much better, it’s not the actual game. It’s not like Luka’s game is gonna change. It’s not like he’s not gonna get 30-40, 15 and 10-12 that’s not gonna change. But I think for him personally, I think what’s gonna change for him, he’s gonna see how he wakes up the next day after three in four nights, he’s gonna be like ’Oh man.’ Because you’ve built this up, you’ve built this body up and now it’s gonna be so beneficial to you and your recovery process and your energy. So I’m super duper proud of him, obviously he don’t need to hear it from me it’s what he wanted to do for himself and that’s the only thing that matters. But I need to get on his regiment a little bit now, I’m gonna take some tips from him.”
It’s easy for everyone to focus on the on-court benefits because it is what we see, but the players have to do a lot in between games to be at their best when the lights come on. Maintaining energy on those rough stretches is difficult and LeBron believes his Lakers’ teammate will be much better able to do that going forward.
Doncic is no stranger to playing big minutes throughout his NBA career, but having that better conditioning will allow for his body to just feel better while going through the day-to-day grind and that will only lead to good things for himself and the Lakers.
Lakers’ LeBron James likely to sit out entire preseason
The Lakers are being very cautious with both Luka Doncic and LeBron James as the preseason gets underway. While Doncic will undoubtedly be taking the court at some point before the regular season begins, James is unlikely to do so.
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