Dallas Mavericks fans have likely noticed long ago, but their Slovenian star Luka Doncic hasn’t quite looked like himself so far this season. These concerns became highlighted during Tuesday’s Mavericks loss to the Nets which was broadcast on TNT.
Hall-of-Fame shooter Reggie Miller made the comment that Doncic was “plodding down the court” and “has got to trim down”.
Doncic echoed such concerns during his post-game comments addressing why he’s been a bit off. Averaging his fewest points per game since his rookie season, Doncic admitted a few reasons why he’s off to a slow start in comments distributed by ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
“I had a long summer,” said Doncic, who joined the Slovenian national team’s training camp days after Dallas was eliminated from the playoffs, leading the program to a fourth-place finish in its first Olympics. “I had the Olympics, took three weeks off, and I relaxed a little bit. Maybe too much. I’ve just got to get back on track.”
Luka Doncic entered camp thirty pounds over his listed weight
Sources also revealed to ESPN that Doncic showed up to training camp above 260 pounds for the second consecutive season. For what it’s worth, the 6-foot-7 inch Doncic is listed at 230 pounds.
Yeah, it may be inexcusable to show up to camp unprepared, having to work his way back into shape, when others enter the year in tip-top condition. He’s acknowledged a need to be more prepared, maybe not relax so much. But to be fair, the two-time NBA All-Star hasn’t had a great opportunity to improve his conditioning once the games have gotten underway.
The NBA schedule is unforgiving. There are games every day, or every other day. Players rarely get two-three days off in between games. Doncic has battled a sprained left knee as well as a sprained left ankle already this season, and while the extra weight has obviously not helped, it’s also difficult to improve conditioning and work on your weight when battling lower leg injuries.
The Mavericks are just 24 games into an 82-game schedule. They have plenty of time to turn this ship around, but hopefully, for his own sake, Doncic can manage his game shape a bit better going forward.
Related: 50 Top NBA players of 2022 – Stephen Curry leads the charge after brilliant season