Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic is entering his first offseason as a member of the purple and gold, and he does so under arguably the most scrutiny of his career. He was traded away from the Dallas Mavericks before the deadline with the team citing defense and conditioning as their reasoning behind the wildly unpopular deal.
And when the Lakers got to the playoffs, Doncic’s defense and conditioning were factors in their first-round, five-game series loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers would still do the Doncic trade 100 times out of 100, and rightfully so, but the concerns still existed. This made it a massive offseason for Doncic to get into better basketball shape.
And it seems he is already doing so, as he has made a few public appearances looking significantly slimmer, and recently posted a video of him putting in offseason work in the gym, via Clutch Points:
Lakers star Luka Doncic putting in the work this offseason 💪
(via @luka7doncic/ IG) pic.twitter.com/wRHhkQB8bo
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 10, 2025
Offseason workout videos are a norm among star players and anyone who has a narrative around him entering an offseason, but it’s still good to see the Lakers star putting in work. Doncic is the future of the franchise, and the player that Rob Pelinka and company are planning to build the next decade of rosters around.
If he is this quick to respond to narratives by putting in work to change it, Doncic is likely going to do that any time he falls short in the race for a championship. His killer mentality has always been a part of his game, and while the Mavericks failed to see that, the Lakers certainly do.
Don Nelson wears Luka Doncic shoes to protest trade
While Lakers fans were thrilled with the trade, the same can’t be said for supporters of the Mavericks. The decision to send Doncic to L.A. was met with vitriol and calls to fire president of basketball operations and general manager Nico Harrison.
Even longtime members of the Mavericks were said to be disappointed of the Doncic trade, including legendary head coach Don Nelson, who is still bitter to this day.
“As a matter of fact, I want everybody to know I’m wearing Luka’s shoes, his new shoes from Nike, just got on the market. I’m wearing them in protest for the trade from Dallas,” Nelson said during a press conference before Game 2 of the NBA Finals when he was announced as the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award winner.
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