Lakers' Luka Doncic Posts Photos Training at Real Madrid amid Rumors on Diet, Workouts
Luka Dončić may have taken some of the criticisms about his diet and conditioning habits to heart in the time since the Los Angeles Lakers season ended.
The five-time All-Star recently posted images of himself in the gym training at Real Madrid.
Dončić, who spent three seasons playing for Real Madrid before coming to the NBA, visited his old stomping grounds to see the club play Granada on Sunday.
The obvious thing that stands out in the images and videos is Dončić's physique. He looks to be more trim than he was less than one month ago when the Lakers played their final game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs.
Another image making the rounds online is of Dončić's fiancee, Anamaria Goltes, making what looks to be a healthy meal.
NBA insider Jason Gallagher, a longtime Dallas Mavericks fan who famously wrote the "Halleluka" song, recently said on The Dumb Zone podcast that Dončić is "changing a lot about himself" as he looks toward the future.
Dončić's eating habits and conditioning were among the reasons cited as to why the Mavericks were concerned about moving forward with him as their franchise player and having to commit $345 million on a contract extension he would have been eligible for this summer.
ESPN's Dave McMenamin noted in the wake of the trade that sent Dončić from Dallas to Los Angeles that he reported to camp "relatively lean by his standards" but he "ballooned to the high 260s" early in the season.
Some of the issues could be attributed to the injuries he dealt with that likely would have made it difficult to keep up on conditioning work. He missed time early in the year with groin and knee injuries even before straining his calf on Christmas Day that kept him out for six weeks.
Of course, that gets into a chicken-or-egg type of discussion. Were those injuries the result of Dončić not being in peak condition at the start of the season, or did those injuries prevent him from staying in peak condition all season?
It doesn't help that Dončić had a whirlwind 2024-25 campaign in which he was traded from the only NBA franchise he had ever known and never wanted to leave Dallas.
Now that Dončić has had time to step away from everything since the season ended and settle in to his new situation with the Lakers, it certainly looks like he's ready to get back to being the MVP-caliber player he has been for most of his career.
