Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic is poised to have his best year after spending the offseason taking his conditioning and diet seriously.
With the Lakers getting eliminated from the playoffs early, Doncic got the rare opportunity to take extended time off and it obviously benefitted as he looked leaner and quicker during his run with Slovenia in EuroBasket 2025. Luka led the underdog Slovenian team to the round of 16 and got past Italy in the first round before succumbing to Germany in the quarterfinals. Germany went on to win the gold, though Doncic certainly did his part to try and knock them out earlier in the tournament.
Doncic can now turn his attention to the 2025-26 season and the first step will be reporting to training camp in the coming weeks. He already looks to be in basketball shape, so there’s real optimism that he and the Lakers can get off to a fast start.
Off the floor, Doncic has started to look at things to do post-career and he revealed he’s got serious interest in becoming a sports owner someday, via Jason Gay of The Wall Street Journal:
Championships are what Luka wants, too—and he doesn’t want to wait, either. He’s been awestruck by James’s rigorous conditioning and business acumen, and says he wants to learn more from him. Like James, Doncic is intrigued by sports ownership, and it doesn’t have to be basketball. “That’s something I’m very, very interested in,” he says.
Doncic has no one better learn from than LeBron James, who has diligently expanding his business portfolio over the years. James holds ownership stakes in the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins and
Liverpool F.C. as they are under the Fenway Sports Group umbrella, but has been very open about his desire to own an NBA team one day.
Doncic also has an excellent resource in new Lakers majority owner Mark Walter, who has experienced plenty of success owning teams, most notably the Los Angeles Dodgers. Doncic will have plenty of opportunities to explore sports ownership, but for now his main focus should be on bringing another championship to Los Angeles.
Luka Doncic and LeBron James excited about Lakers sale to Mark Walter
It was a major surprise when news broke that Mark Walter had purchased a majority stake in the Lakers because of the Buss family’s reluctance to sell over the years. Once the sale was finalized, Luka Doncic and LeBron James reportedly expressed that they’re excited about the move.
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