Luka Doncic is widely recognized as one of the best players in the NBA, an athlete whose insane popularity is set to grow even further with his move to the Los Angeles Lakers this season. The Slovenian superstar’s offensive game is one of the hardest to defend in the league. A renowned health and fitness journalist explained exactly why.
Advertisement
Michael Easter spoke about Doncic’s incredible rise and broke down the physics of his game. He explained that a company called P3, which works with the NBA, tests players’ movement at their facility and compares it to other players. Doncic was one of the many who had this technology tested on him and there were some things that stood out.
“They did all this stuff and they go, ‘Luka we have bad news for you. You can’t jump to save your life,'” he stated.
View this post on Instagram
Fortunately for Doncic, he also had an incredible athletic strength that the technology pointed out. It was this unique trait that Easter said Doncic developed further — making him the future of the league.
“‘But we also have some good news. You are off the charts at decelerating or slowing down. So we want you to develop your game around sprinting…stop…defender careens forward…because you can slow down faster then…shoot.’ He developed his game around that and now he’s sort of the future of the NBA.”
Easter hit the nail in the head. Luka’s hesitation, herky-jerky dribbling has made defenders stumble on their heels against the Slovenian. He has always prompted discussions on how he plays at his own pace and yet players struggle to contain him.
Another unique ability to go with Doncic’s insane brakes is his strength to play bully ball against defenders. The five-time All-Star can’t be pushed around at will if the defenders do get to him.
JJ Redick on Luka Doncic’s unique abilities
Lakers head coach JJ Redick has also recognized Luka Doncic’s “best brakes in the world.” He previously appeared on “Flagrant” with Andrew Schultz, and gave a more detailed explanation from a former player’s perspective, stating that it all comes down to Doncic’s incredible balance.
“There’s like a constant change of pace. He’s on balance. He’s trying to get you off balance. Once you’re off balance, he’s still on balance…he changes his pace. He’s created an advantage at that point,” Redick stated.
Redick later reiterated Easter’s point regarding Doncic’s deceleration, even calling the phenomenon special.
“Let’s say you catch up to him. You’re going in acceleration full speed. He goes into deceleration…you fly by. So on his drives his ability to decelerate is special.”
A skill like this is not only beneficial for Doncic in his trajectory toward becoming one of the greatest of all time, but is a weapon that a team like the Lakers can really benefit from. LeBron James’ ability to drive to the hoop paired with Austin Reaves’ pinpoint shooting from the arc was already dangerous. Now with Doncic and his deceleration? The Lakers might be a cheat code.
