Luka Dončić’s defense this season: has his weight loss actually made any difference?
He moves on defense like he’s trying to keep stuff from falling out of his pockets.
He legit almost never gets in a low stance lmfao. Standing up straight and flat footed while guarding shifty guards. Insane.
Bro some of these he literally opens up his entire body or lazily goes for a poke around steal
ya what the fuck up with the reach around pokes? like he isn’t even beat yet, he just allows the offensive player by randomly and goes for a reach 😭
Melo pulled that shit for years on the Knicks. They pull it when they’re already beat to make it look like they’re playing defense.
And that’s why Luka will end up ringless just like him if he doesn’t lock tf in. Can’t be playing shit defense if you’re out there 40 minutes a night
The thing is they aren’t already beat, often they give up the lane to try for the poke
I thought reach around pokes was a Josh Hart thing
I played with a lot of guys like this growing up. All offense, doesnt care at all on defense. Infuriating to have on your team. And they’ll get mad if someone on the team misses a shot on offense cuz he thinks he woulda made it. Everyone thinks they’re good, cuz they score, but it’s not a 1 way game.
Absolutely 💯
He’s like that guy at the Y who’s got a good offensive game but is “too cool for school” to be a “try-hard” on defense.
He preserves his energy on defense harder than LeBron does at 40.
He also kinda waves his arms at some of them
Clip against Max Christie where he does both came up immediately after I read this lol
This might be the most hilarious and absolutely accurate thing I’ve read today. Kudos
Unusual yet accurate description.
The defensive version of “Draymond shoots like he’s wearing a backpack”
Defense wins championships
Yea, but what does defense do for all your loose change that fell on the court? Nothing.
Luka has spaghetti in his pockets, not loose change
Like he’s got blisters on his feet
The ghost of Darvin Ham lives on
That is the perfect description. Well done 👏
He watched Napoleon Dynamite over the offseason and realized he could keep tater tots on him
Like Agassi not wanting his toupee to fall off.
It’s not a weight problem, it’s about giving effort
Some of these clips are just straight up lack of awareness tbh
Seriously. Half of them is low effort, half of them he’s actually kind of trying, but like… I’ve never seen such a good basketball player be so bad on defense even when they try. It’s pretty wild.
Guess I didn’t notice it as much when he was on the Mavs.
the finals it was so blatant
yes, some of it is effort but he looks like he’s never played defense. It honestly almost looks like when you grab a random guy at work to fill out the company team.
Luka should actually be a very good defender for a point guard, especially given his size. The issue is that he has no defensive bag or effort.
You dont need a bag for defense ypu lower your ass and move
the “bag” is just defensive stance and sliding your feet lmao
It’s effort. He just doesn’t give enough of a shit to try
You don’t need a ‘bag’ for defense. You just have to give a fuck
Lol no he shouldn’t. Hes not a very athletic player, he just uses his body and skill extremely well on offense. If you don’t have quick feet as a perimeter defender you’re going to get torched
Na, large frames on point guards usually translates to bad defense because they dont have the quickness to keep up with small guards.
Like magic…dude got roasted if he didn’t get help defense by every halfway decent PG
Giant “point guards” who can actually guard on the perimeter are incredibly rare. LeBron and Ben Simmons come to mind, and even they had trouble navigating through screens due to their size.
Luka should actually be a very good defender for a point guard, especially given his size
NBA fans really are the dumbest across all sports lol. The fact that he’s listed as a PG on basketball reference doesn’t mean he defends point guards, dummy. Anyone who even watches one game of Luka knows he’s basically a PF on defense. Same thing with Magic Johnson in the 80s.
Shit is wild like he has no issue initiating contact on offense but on defense its like he dont want to commit any fouls 😂
This looks like how you play defense against a little kid when you want them to feel like they’re doing really well.
Deadass 😂😂
that’s the issue with mastering the trade, he knew how to bait bozos into a foul but at the same time he’s trying not to be the bozos in defense so he subconciously avoiding defending properly.
he just need to learn that outside of few people, not every player is playing for the foulbait.
Somehow I don’t think he is bad at defense because he is trying too hard not to foul, I think he just doesn’t care enough about being good at it.
A sequence in Game 5 of the Finals I will remember is when Luka was guarding White in the corner. In the same possession, motherfucker lost D White twice for offensive rebounds. 0 effort. Just embarrassing. At least fucking box out lol.
Nico Harrison is out there smiling with this irony lol
I love how he’s always been this player but now that he’s on the Lakers he just gets absolutely roasted now
I mean he was getting criticisized for this during the NBA finals. I don’t remember the number but the amount of drive by’s the Celtics got when guarded by him was absurd.
First time I ever seen the blow by percentage stat was in that Finals lmao he was getting killed in the media
I remember Windhorst of all people came out and called him fat after the finals lol
Literally anyone who got the ball with him guarding them instantly got the widest eyes I’ve ever seen lol
BBQ chicken
The worst part of it is is that I notice with his time with us on lakers it’s not stars but 35year old + role guys who aren’t even starter level who cook him. Like damn, pre getting him I used to atleast think it was just stars like brown n Tatum - that’s more acceptable. Just make it tough man , don’t let them blow by you.
The Mavs literally built there entire defense around him getting blown by because they knew it was inevitable.
It’s smart to build your roster around covering your star’s weaknesses, trading him after reaching the Finals was not though.
Windy go on after him after game 3 was wild. Just killing him on national tv
He got abused by them in the finals
The LA spotlight can be harsh for sure
Something something street lights and spotlights
He always got roasted for his dogshit defensive effort.
He got called out for lack of defense on the Mavs too. Lakers posts just get more attention because there are a lot of fans.
Dallas built a system that not only covered up his weaknesses, but actually worked with them. He was decent enough to funnel players drives in to a meat grinder in the paint, and gave guys like Gafford, Washington, and lively just a little extra time to set up. The Lakers have no one to help.
I’m so sick of this narrative, you guys got killed in the finals. It was legitimately uncompetitive. Jokic is the closest we’ve seen to a star as terrible on defense as Luka win a chip and he’s generational, plus the comp that finals run was a bit weak. Maybe you can reach the finals but you can’t win with your superstar being a turnstile.
you can reach the finals but you can’t win
This just makes such little sense in reality, like what is the real world explanation for this to be true? Any team that makes it to the final can win the finals. Considering they also made conference finals before their finals run saying it’s all a fluke is pretty unrealistic.
It’s because most NBA fans do not understand basketball on a high enough level.
Luka played 40+ a night, on an injured knee, through the entire playoffs.
Defense didn’t even lose the finals. Lol at the scores. Any maverick not named Luka shot under 10% from 3, and not much better from 2. It was a team that wasn’t deep enough for a finals run, unlike Boston. Kyrie was playing his longest minutes since 2018. Gafford and PJ, had never played as much, and Lively was a rookie.
The whole roster was gassed, and shots fell flat, and Luka still carried them.
Games 2-4 were competitive despite all of that.
But you have Luka now, so enjoy the cone.
Was he really this lazy during his rookie year tho? I mean, I remember watching him in Euroleague, and he definitely tried on defense there.
Bro what are you talking about? He got absolutely fucking roasted after losing in the finals. It’s happening more now because the Lakers as a roster don’t cover his deficiencies as well.
Our now fired idiot GM literally talked about defense when he traded him.
Where is this idea that nobody talked about his effort on defense before coming from?
There were dozens of posts like this when we played the Celtics in the finals. Luka was drafted in 2018. He’s a veteran now. None of this is new.
People were talking about his defense with the Mavs too lol hence why he got traded
Nobody who has been on this subreddit before he got traded thinks calling him out for his defense is anything new. This shit is a tale as old as time.
Yeah he was a renowned great defender on the Mavericks :)
We clowned on him every week when he was on the Mavs, you just didn’t hear about it lol.
yeab he has never been a good defender, he’s the type to ya know, build around so he doesn’t have to play defense so much
the ones where he throws his hands up like it’s something else’s fault are hilarious
His signature defensive play is signaling to the refs
Its not about his weight, HE LITERALLY GIVES ZERO EFFORT. Its so lazy. My god.
He guards like every game is the all star game.
Most of those blow bys are due to a lack of athleticism. The other clips are unforgivable though. The refusal to even attempt to close out on shooters is egregious.
You don’t have to be athletic to play good defense lol. Defense is mostly footwork, positioning, and effort. Dude doesn’t even get into a defensive stance
Yea if he got low was shuffling his feet and still got blown by okay whatever. But he literally doesn’t even take a step. It’s the most lazy shit I’ve ever seen
Larry Bird wasn’t athletic by any stretch of the imagination and he wouldn’t have been caught dead playing defense this piss poor.
No it’s really not. He isn’t getting into a low stance, he’s standing tall and flat footed in the majority of these. A few times he even beats the defender to the first spot, but seems averse to absorbing the physical contact and lets them just slide past. It’s a huge effort thing
Luka is not unathletic. He’s un-give-a-shit.
Jokic is very not athletic in terms of speed and agility but he gives serious effort on defense and because of it, he’s like a small net positive on that end. Luka has no excuse
Tbf there’s a LOT of times where Jokic doesn’t give effort either particularly on close outs! There was a whole highlight posted in a game just last week where Jok stood around a lot. They’re both high usage players on the offensive end so it’s tough to keep that motor when you aren’t athletic or in shape.Tbh I think that the difference is that Luka was supposed to have gotten in shape so it should’ve helped.
We’ve seen Jokic actually put on effort on Defense when he needs to and be pretty good. The 2023 playoffs is an example.
The lazy closeouts piss me off. The blowby can be attributed to Luka being just slow and not that athletic but the closeouts are 100% effort and he is not doing those.
Luka is plenty athletic for his size, he just doesn’t give a shit on defense
Id trade a guy who gives this kind of effort for someone who might not give you the crazy offensive ceiling but competes defensively. Its basically a refusal to do half of your job
You’d get fired and be the laughing stock of the league, but go on
Is that Nico
To be quite honest, I think he put some of that weight back on.
This happens every season with him.
Dude I was downvoted all offseason for stating this exact fact. He would always come into the season looking slimmer (although he never got as in shape as he did coming into this season I’ll admit that), and once the grind of being on the road for 6-7 months hits all those bad habits he has (food, beer, smoking) all catch up with him as he’s not able to offset it with working out during the season itself. It happened every single year in Dallas and yet people were convinced it would be different because he’s in LA and on a mission.
On a mission tortilla
I’ll never get it either.
He’s getting 40 minutes of supremely intense cardio 3-4 nights a week.
You have to eat like absolute shit and do zero exercise outside of that to gain weight during the season
The dude was known to be t500 in overwatch. I don’t think people understand how low-key worrying that is. T500 isn’t just something you get. It’s something you have to maintain. And I highly doubt he’s good enough to not need to maintain it often. Top players at the time were still playing 6-8 hours a day to reach it.
My friend was good enough to have 5 accounts in top 500 and he was playing that game for 16 hours a day for months before he was good enough to just walk accounts there
So for me, another person who reached t500 and who played the bulk of that game my senior year in college and a month or so before I started my career, that dude Luka was playing A LOT. Either that or he was boosted. Because again, GM is a rank you reach. T500 is a rank you have to maintain
Overwatch + beer was probably his combo
That’s not even counting the practice in between games where he’s probably putting in work too lmao
What’s LA’s equivalent to Texas BBQ?
Chili cheese pastrami fries I guess.
I imagine the Mexican food in LA hits hard.
Demarcus Cousins used to do the same. Lose weight in the offseason and progressively put it back on during the season. Some guys just can’t keep it off lol
Imagine how much you have to eat and drink to outrun an NBA season. Insane
It sure looked like it on Christmas
I was thinking the same thing after watching the last game. Nico about to be vindicated…
Luka could be eating pizza on the bench and drinking whole milk instead of Gatorade and that would still be the dumbest trade of the millennium. He sourced one offer and it was for Anthony Davis and his cardboard knees.
he definitely put the weight back on. He must be eating an insane amount to somehow gain weight while burning something like an extra 25k-45k calories per week(that’s like 2-3 extra adult males entire consumption per week)
My theory is that he’s gained a lot of it back since the start of the season, it’s evident just by looking at his face
Feels like this was always the case with him. Getting in shape in the offseason and then gain it all back, and then some, during the season.
So weird. You’d think playing a season of pro basketball would make you lose weight instead of gain it
Games are less intense than practice and the number of practices isn’t very high. Some extra room service on the road trips and he could for sure get heavier.
It’s also only half of whatever minutes he play since he doesn’t play defense.
The Zion special
It was the opposite. He used to come to camp overweight and play into shape in november lol
Even playing eurobasket this summer he was a traffic cone. Probably easier to go around him since he was slimmer than now.
He def had more effort in the euroleauge
Just looking at him should tell you he’s gained most of it back.
He got skinny(ish) for a photo shoot in July and has slowing reverted back to pre-injury Luka from a build perspective.
that photo shoot was a total sham. they put him in black shirts like they do fat people and used a bunch of angles
We got people agreeing with Nico, Lakers fans acting like we lost the trade, and lowlights being posted of Luka. 2025 going out w a bang.
Criticizing Luka is fair game but acting like Lakers lost the trade is nuts. AD and Max Christie aren’t exactly leading the Mavs to the playoffs.
Worst case scenario, even if they want to flip Luka and totally rebuild, I’m sure someone would give the Lakers multiple picks for him, or more than what you could get for AD+Christie.
Jury is out! But for real I would have never traded for Street Clothes Davis.
No
His first like 5 games he was actually trying and playing solid team D. It’s all effort w him. He has the capability to be a solid defender.
Yes
fin
I agree with you, and I am curious what changed. He seems to not have the fire he had earlier this season. I wonder if something is going on in his personal life as I know I have 0 motivation at work when struggling with things at home or personally.
It’s hard to create new, sustained habits. And he gets mauled on offense and is ball dominant. Not many players are like early-mid career LeBron where you take a beating on O and still kill it on D. Now LeBron physically cant do it for more than a few games and absolutely consciously coasts during early regular season.
It’s rare that players have major changes during their career. Off the top of my head J Kidd and his 3pt game, and Vince Carter going from superstar to elite role player.
Kobe had the aptitude and work ethic to transition to an elite role player after his injury but I think was too hard headed. Players who have dramatic overnight improvement are rare.
That’s fair and I do know he spends a lot of energy on offense. I do give LeBron a pass since he has been doing it at both ends of the court for so long and it just happens that you can’t do that forever with age.
Since I am a Celtics fan I may be remembering things through a biased lens, but if memory serves I recall Kobe and Jordan each committing to be strong defenders at some point in their careers. Sure they were both incredible natural athletes but they also worked hard to improve their games in areas where they may have been weak, including defense. No reason Luka can’t do something similar imo. I will agree it is not easy, but it is possible. And I hope he does it, can you imagine him as a defensive force too?
Ayton really mentoring Luka this year.
Bro at least KAT tries on defense
The weight was never the problem. It’s giving a fuck.
Imagine playing with a guy who doesn’t care enough about winning to play half the game of basketball
I get you might not be the most athletic or intelligent defender but there is absolutely ZERO effort on the defensive end.
man people are fuckin going hard on Luka right now lol
Look at the lakers sub. Its a civil war. Lebron stans vs Luka stans vs old Lakers fans.
As a member of the third group, I am very tired and I find myself missing the baby Lakers days at this point. Fans of specific players are just exhausting. I never really realized since I grew up with Magic and then Kobe and both were lifers.
Player fans are the worst
The Luka vs Kyrie war in 2024 was horrible. One of the 2 good things about that trade.
Lot of JJ Redick fans here I guess
luka oncic my guy, idk why people give more of a shit now he’s been like this lol
Homie undid that weight loss real quick
Double chin forming already all that Bibigo
He’s put on the weight again tbh, have you seen his face? Lmao
He is not still in shape. Just look how soft he is and now compare his shape and quicness 4-5 years ago. Besides this he is lazy as fuck and puts zero effort to be a better in defense
You guys don’t understand… Arguing with refs while walking back towards your rim takes a lot of energy. He’s preserving it on close outs and box outs.
The weight was supposed to be more than just losing some fat, he was supposed to doing all the other things elite guys do to take care of their body. Mobility, flexibility, strength, conditioning. That stuff leads to less injuries(barring freak ones and accidents). But Luka looks like he just went on a short term diet to prove a point and now is back to his old shit. The lack of effort is something that he has to mentally change, but that goes along with taking care of your body…
never puts his hands up, never contests shots, never jumps, never moves his feet, and just gives up constantly. I thought they said this dude was a competitor?
I guess he only competes on offense lol.
how does he not get embarrassed by this ?
does he know he was traded due to his defence and weight not his ability to score 30 points
the absolute worst thing he can do is retire ringless with highlight reels like this being compiled every season until he retires while vindicating everything nico said
Poor Marcus Smart’s body after a whole season of taking charges after Lukas man blows by him..
Absolute fat mess. Stat padder
Someone just dunk on him already
hard because you beat him to the basket with seconds to spare
In order to get dunked on, it means you actually tried to block the shot.
We know that’s something he would never do.
He wouldn’t even bother jumping.
He would move out the way
he just doesn’t give a fuck.
low lights is an understatement holy lmao
Luka Oncic
He is like a street sign on defense and it sure as hell isn’t a stop sign.
I mean, some of that weight is back already. Both his conditioning and defense has always been a mindset issue, not an environment issue.
He moves like injured and gassed Embiid
Bro cares more about stealing uncontested rebounds than defending anyone.
His speed is limited by the closest official he is currently arguing with.
Uh oh we’ve reached the james harden defensive lowlights superstar criticism stage for luka. Such is the way of the world
He’s already chubby again
Don’t worry, there are people who say he’s good at defense
Is this national shit on Luka week or something
Defense is literally all effort and mentality. It’s IQ too but if you at least give effort you can be a decent defender. Luka is just lazy and only cares about offense which is why he will never win a ring
All that blather about getting in shape. That phony ass weightlifting vid was bullshit. He’s already out of shape from his “peak” at the start of the season. He cares less about defense every year.
if anything he got worse
It’s laziness. It’s got nothing to do with his body
of course it didn’t but his offense is good so they’re gonna make an excuse for anything. luka won’t ever be a good defender or competent because he doesn’t feel like it
The weight was literally never the issue with his defense and I don’t understand what made people think it was
What weight loss?
This reminds me of the harden montage a while back when he was on the rockets
Followed Lakers since I started getting into the nba and saw they had the this young guard wearing the same number I wore for my team (Kobe). Think I’m ready to jump off. I cannot stand watching them. Luka embodies everything I hate in a team sport. Smug when the ball hogging works, complains LITERALLY every fucking possession, doesn’t work off ball, and plays no defence. Embarrassing
What frustrating is that you have to actively try to play defense this poorly in order to play it this poorly… This isn’t a bad defender trying and still playing poorly, it’s someone who’s treating defense like a chore and putting forth no effort.
Luka is a pox on the Laker name. His shit work ethic on and off the court has no business being associated with the purple and gold
He’s a fucking professional athlete and can’t even maintain a little bit of weight loss for more than a few months. Like WTF are you eating to the point that an NBA player’s level of exercise can’t save you
Yall will just say anything. Fat or skinny, he’s a bad defender. Remember what Boston did to him during the finals two years ago. They targeted him the most
We knew this about him. His defense was the same with the Mavericks. He only plays on-the-ball offense, no off-the-ball-offense and absolutely NO DEFENSE!
Literally nothing changed lol. He has the same double chin, bag of milk body and lack of definition that he always had.
This the “next” superstar the league is being handed over too. It’s appalling to say the least.
It’s never been his weight. It’s always been his desire. He doesn’t want to play D so he doesn’t.
Doncic defense is like me in a group project. Appear to be working but not actually working at all.
The Luka whiplash week to week is hilarious
It’s mostly an effort issue. When he is trying he can actually be decent which would help a lot. Most of the time he’s not trying at all which makes no sense to me. He’s got terrible body language
His shoes last a bit longer, uniform fits a little better.
He’s got to be the laziest defender in the NBA
Is Luka taking over embiid’s spot for the most hated player by the sub ?
Bro still fat don’t @ me
Absolutely zero fucks given.
He watches them score just like we do at home.
The Mavericks will win a championship before Luka does.
YEAH I SAID IT
i cant defend this anymore and frankly neither can he
He’s so trash without the ball. That’s why Nico shipped him (whether you agree with the move or not).