Ex-Laker questions if Luka’s weight loss will ‘make him play defense this year’

Los Angeles Lakers star guard Luka Doncic faced plenty of criticism regarding his perceived conditioning issues last season, and perhaps he took all of that negativity to heart.

After all, The Athletic’s Dan Woike reported last month that Doncic has lost “significant weight.” Additionally, he’s been putting in cardio work and operating on a stringent diet, per Woike.

One X user recently made a post comparing how Doncic looks now to how he did in his maiden season in a Lakers uniform. A former Lakers guard responded to the post.

Ron Harper, who played his final two seasons in the NBA with the Purple and Gold, openly pondered whether the weight that Doncic has lost will “make him play defense.”

Doncic doesn’t exactly have a reputation for being a stingy and effective defensive player at the highest level.

He has no defensive accolades up to this point in his NBA career, and his play on the less glamorous end of the floor left a lot to be desired in the only championship series he’s played in.

The Boston Celtics hunted matchups with him time and time again when looking to put points on the board in the 2024 NBA Finals, and Boston won the best-of-seven series in a gentleman’s sweep to capture its 18th title in franchise history.

If Doncic were to step up his game on that end of the floor, he’d likely have a case for being the best player in the NBA.

He’s already an incredibly gifted offensive player, as he averaged 28.2 points and 7.7 assists per game with the Lakers and Dallas Mavericks last season.

To boot, he’s averaged a whopping 28.6 points per game for his pro career, which is the third-highest career average of any player in the history of the league behind Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.

Perhaps shedding some weight will allow Doncic to be a more impactful player on the defensive end of the floor this coming season. Hopefully he can stay on a diet and continue to get cardio in for the remainder of the offseason to be in tip-top shape in the 2025-26 campaign.