A couple of days after signing his max extension with the Los Angeles Lakers — then seeing the Back Street Boys at the Sphere in Las Vegas with some teammates — Luka Doncic was half a world away in his native Slovenia, preparing with his countrymen for the EuroBasket tournament.
The setting may change, but the questions for Doncic did not — reporters wanted to know about his thinner look and offseason conditioning work. Here are his responses from Slovinian media outlet SIOL.net, as translated by Eurohoops.net.
“There have always been questions about my fitness, but I thought I was playing great before, too. This year we approached things differently. Last summer was rough — I played until June and then jumped straight into Olympic qualifiers. This time, I had more time and a better plan.”
As for his new workout routine.
“It wasn’t easy at first, but then it becomes a habit. We’ll see how it translates to games — I haven’t played since the NBA season ended, and I’ve only just started scrimmaging again.”
This largely echoed what Doncic told the media in Los Angeles last week. With his improved conditioning, Doncic may be able to play a little faster and is more likely to stay healthy. Still, near the top of Coach J.J. Redick’s list of goals for this season will be to get Doncic and LeBron James to the postseason healthy and ready to make a run, which is going to mean some rest and nights off.
It’s going to be interesting to see what the new, motivated Doncic looks like on the court. Our first look will come as Doncic and Slovenia play some warm-up exhibitions (starting with a couple of games against Germany in the coming days), but things get serious Aug. 28 when Slovenia opens EuroBasket against Poland.
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