Luka Doncic Reportedly Motivated by Rumors After Lakers Trade: 'A Beast Was Awakened'

Any concern that Luka Dončić was getting complacent in his career were squashed when the Dallas Mavericks decided to trade the 25-year-old superstar to the Los Angeles Lakers due in part to concerns about his long-term physical state.

Per ESPN's Dave McMenamin, one source close to Dončić said "beast was awakened inside" the five-time All-Star.

In the aftermath of the surprise trade, ESPN's Tim MacMahon noted the Mavs had "major concerns about moving forward" with Dončić as their best player.

Adding context to that report, McMenamin wrote on Feb. 2 there was "significant frustration" within the Mavericks organization about Dončić's "lack of discipline regarding his diet and conditioning" that they believe was a major contributing factor to his injury issues.

Dončić has frequently missed a not-insignificant amount of time during the season throughout his career. He's only reached the 70-game threshold twice in seven seasons, including the 2024-25 campaign.

In the past, Dončić has acknowledged his commitment to conditioning could be better and it has caused his weight to fluctuate within a given season.

McMenamin noted Dončić reported to camp this season "relatively lean by his standards," but his weight got up to 260 pounds early in the year.

Per MacMahon and Ramona Shelburne, even though the Mavs held Dončić out for 11 days in November with what the team said was due to a wrist injury, it was actually to provide him "time to shed weight" after he "ballooned into the high 260s."

There were indications that Dončić wasn't quite himself earlier this season. He was averaging 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists in his first 22 games, but his 45.4 field-goal percentage during that span was on pace to be his worst since he was a rookie in 2018-19 (42.7 percent).

Dončić suffered a calf strain on Christmas Day that kept him out until Feb. 10, eight days after the trade. He looked sluggish in his first three games back, averaging 14.7 points on 35.6 percent shooting with 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists per contest.

Saturday's win over the Denver Nuggets marked the first time Dončić has looked like the player he has been for the past five seasons when he was named to the All-NBA first team every year. He put up 32 points on 10-of-22 shooting with 10 rebounds, seven assists and four steals in a 123-100 win.

The Mavericks are going to find out on Tuesday just how angry the beast they awakened is right now. They will take on Dončić and the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena at 10 p.m. ET.