Luka Doncic appears to have been hard at work this offseason, with pictures of him looking slim going viral on social media. While Los Angeles Lakers fans are excited at the prospect of seeing “Skinny Luka” on the court next season, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce stated on the Ticket and The Truth podcast that he’ll put on weight again during the season.
Kevin Garnett: “Summertime body. Everybody in shape in the summer.”
Paul Pierce: “By December when they ain’t practicing no more, you’re going to see the same Luka you’d have seen the last four or five years.”
To be fair to Doncic, not everyone tends to be in great shape in the summer. We have seen plenty of players take it easy in the offseason and then play themselves into shape during the campaign.
The pitchforks are always out when it comes to this subject with Doncic, so he does deserve some praise when he is seemingly addressing the issue. Here’s the latest clip of the Slovenian that has gone viral.
Luka with a fan. 🙏
(h/t @LukaUpdates)
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) June 27, 2025
Doncic, who averaged 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game for the Lakers in 2024-25, hasn’t looked this skinny in years. This clip also supports The Athletic’s Dan Woike report that the five-time All-Star has lost a lot of weight since the end of the season.
“Doncic has been incredibly committed to his conditioning this offseason,” Woike wrote. “He’s dropped significant weight and is working on a strict diet and cardio training, according to a source with knowledge of the plan. In a shift from his normal offseason, he spent a month away from on-court work to focus more on his body.”
You just wish Doncic had gone this route earlier, but better late than never. It ultimately took all the jabs thrown by the Dallas Mavericks and the Lakers’ early exit in the playoffs to light a fire under him.
The Minnesota Timberwolves knocking out the Lakers in five games in the first round justified the Mavericks’ decision to trade Doncic in the eyes of some. He was repeatedly hounded on defense and appeared to run out of gas at the end of some of the games. He looks determined to ensure that it won’t happen again.
Pierce, though, thinks Doncic is going to face the same problems on the defensive end, as he doesn’t believe losing weight is going to help much there.
“It’s going to look the same,” Pierce said. “Just because he lose 10 or 15 pounds, he looked the part, that mean what? He gonna go out there and average 30, eight, and eight. Same thing. He ain’t gonna be a better defender, he’s not that. He might give you a little more hustle, get back on defense a little more.”
Pierce added that you can live with Doncic’s poor defense when he’s producing at the rate that he is on offense. The Boston Celtics legend wants the Lakers to surround the 26-year-old with great defenders to help him on that end of the floor.
Well, the Lakers could potentially lose one of their better defenders this offseason, as Dorian Finney-Smith has declined his $15.4 million player option. Finney-Smith could still be back with the team, though, and they need to hold on to him. Not only is he a great fit next to Doncic, but he is also a good friend of his.
