Luka Doncic might be on track to be a future MVP, but his fitness remains a concern. He has shed some weight and gotten shredded ahead of his first full season with the LA Lakers. But, unfortunately, the criticism doesn’t seem to be dying down.
Advertisement
Doncic’s lack of conditioning allegedly factored in to the Dallas Mavericks’ decision to part ways with him. It has been a few months since he was traded away, and a trim and toned Doncic now graces the cover of the Men’s Health magazine.
To his credit, Doncic was a fairly good basketball player even when he wasn’t munching on salads and steamed chicken breasts. That, however, didn’t seem to matter to controversial NBA analyst Skip Bayless.
Bayless, apparently taking a break from talking about LeBron James, decided to turn his podcast’s attention toward Doncic earlier today. In what was an unapologetic case of body shaming, Bayless said, “The guy who ran out of gas was the fat guy. The guy with the inner tube around his waist, that guy with two chins, not one but two: the Luka guy,” he began.
“He gets shamed. He gets shamed by his head coach. Gets shamed by the internet. First picture of him from Croatia that showed him slimmed down. There are a lot of internet jokes. Always on Ozempic. And then came this. They handfed this to Men’s Health. They brought the reporters over to Croatia to the resort to watch him in action,” Bayless continued.
Giving Doncic some flowers, Bayless admitted that Luka’s capable of anything he puts his mind and heart to. Bayless also called Doncic one of the toughest guy in the league mentally, who is at his best when “he’s mad at some heckler.”
“That’s his Jordanesque streak that he has in him. He just goes crazy over some slight from some heckler from the baseline. Remember, he’s had several games where he made big shots because he got mad. Well, he got mad at the world. He got mad at the Mavericks executive and ownership for shipping him out. He said, ‘Okay, watch this. Watch me now,’” Bayless noted.
Bayless, however, believes that anybody could do what Doncic did if they had a couple of months and the stomach for grueling hard work.
“We are going to clean it out, man. And you are going to have to hurt. But if it’s just a couple of months, you’re going to know at some point, you’re going to get to eat whatever you want to eat … He buffed up and he looks great and maybe that’ll hold a little bit,” Skip asserted.
Despite praising Doncic for his work, Bayless maintains that this is not a sustainable lifestyle for the Slovenian baller. “But the problem is, it’s a crash diet. It’s got too much fasting involved in it. He can’t maintain. This isn’t a lifestyle change,” he insinuated.
“Those pictures, I just don’t trust whatever a magazine does today with the shots. Do you photoshop? … Do you purify?” Bayless asked before questioning if Doncic used some suspicious supplements in his home country.
“My point is, offseason, I don’t trust; in season, I do trust. Let’s see how Luca [Doncic] starts looking in November and then in December, then definitely in January. How about February? And then let’s really see what it looks like in March and April,” Bayless noted.
“I am not saying he’s trying to fool the Lakers into committing to him … He’s a superstar. He’s the answer to LeBron James’ retirement … He’s must-watch TV. I love watching him. I just don’t love him playing defense, and none of this shape will help him play defense … He becomes a liability, a hunted liability,” Bayless concluded before focusing back on James.
To be fair to Bayless, these are legitimate concerns ahead of an important season for the Lakers. Doncic is probably also aware of these issues. How he approaches the season, or more importantly, how he finishes it (according to Bayless), is going to be the true test of his character. Hopefully, he can live up to his talent and the expectations imposed upon him.
