When the NBA world found out about the blockbuster trade that sent former Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, fans, pundits, and everyone were wondering why this happened.
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For days and weeks following the trade, it was believed that the Mavericks brass took a chance to rebuild the roster without Doncic, which was due in large part to his conditioning. Doncic appeared to take those comments and reports personally, as he began to completely change his physical appearance.
Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images
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Back in May, Doncic was shown at a Real Madrid game, already far thinner than he had appeared during the 2024-25 NBA season. Now, the Lakers star has taken his health a step further.
Doncic was highlighted by Men’s Health Magazine, not only looking thin, but also looking as though he has been hitting the weights heavily.
Doncic is emblazoned on the cover of the magazine with a simple tagline that reads, “Luka Doncic muscles up.”
This insane body transformation has garnered plenty of fan responses.
Luka is NOT playing with yall this year 😭💀
— Denzel Pumpington (@afcstat) July 28, 2025
Oh he’s on that Bron workout grind 👀
— Raffters (@RafftersHQ) July 28, 2025
Luka’s been working hard
— Narratives 🔮 (@narratives) July 28, 2025
Prime Luka back lets go
— Graceful🦈 (@upbilssed) July 28, 2025
Yea lemme go put this reg season mvp bet in
— Dior (@dioruzivert) July 28, 2025
Doncic joining the Lakers midseason was not the boost the team was hoping for, simply due to Los Angeles needing even more components to compete in the playoffs.
Sadly, the Lakers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Despite having a star like Doncic on the team, the Lakers were missing a true center, as Anthony Davis was shipped to the Mavericks to land Doncic.
Despite only appearing in 50 games, Doncic put together a campaign of 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 7.7 assists, and 1.8 steals per game.
The Lakers are set to start building around Doncic, as fellow superstar LeBron James is in the twilight years of his career. There are many signs pointing to James also signing with a new team next season, though none of that has been corroborated.
Simply put, the Lakers know that building around Doncic is the way of the future, and that might be the exact goal for new owner Mark Walter. Shockingly, the Lakers organization was sold to Walter by the Buss family for a record valuation fo 10 billion.
With Walter having rebuilt the Los Angeles Dodgers with high-priced superstars, he might have a similar goal in mind for the Lakers. That goal can certainly be achieved by surrounding Doncic with high-level players.
Though Doncic’s conditioning has been called into question, he is apparently using that as extra motivation to prove he is the right player to lead the Lakers back to championship runs.
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