"We Have To Get In Championship Shape." - Without Naming Names, JJ Redick Completely Buried Luka Doncic For Being Fat And Out Of Shape

Michael Reaves. Getty Images.

There are a lot of issues the Lakers now have to address given that their season is over. Their roster is aging, there's not a playable center anywhere in sight, the shooting is still a disaster, the bench is nonexistent, the list goes on and on.

In addition to all that, there's also the reality that their new franchise player is still wildly out of shape. The very thing Nico Harrison tried to tell the world about ended up being a huge issue for the Lakers in their brief playoff appearance, and now the book is out. Until that gets resolved, nothing else really matters. The playoffs are about matchups and attacking weaknesses, and you're only as good as your weakest link. People think winning in the NBA is about having "the best player" and that's not really the case. It's actually being the team that doesn't have the "worst" player who can be targeted nonstop for 48 minutes.

You know who knows that? JJ Redick. He knows how important being in shape is if your goal is to win a championship, and he didn't even have to say the name for everyone to know who he was talking about when he made this comment 

Gee, who could he possibly be talking about here? I'm pretty sure he's not talking about a 40 year old LeBron who hasn't been out of shape a day in his life. My money is on the guy that looks out of shape, plays out of shape, and defends like a player who is out of shape

Advertisement

If this all feels familiar, it's because we've been here before. Not even a year ago, we were hearing the same thing when Luka got exposed in the NBA Finals. One would think all that shaming would have motivated Luka to commit to getting in shape and actually trying on defense, but the exact opposite happened. He didn't change shit. He still doesn't try on defense, probably because he's gasping for air, given his conditioning issues. How many more times are we going to see this happen before things actually change for Luka? I mean this is now back to back playoff series he's been embarrassed/exposed, and at this point I'm not sure he's ever going to be able to shake this narrative, especially since it's clear he doesn't put in the work to fix it.

People often try to overlook this by posting his 35/12/10 stat lines as if that makes up for what a disaster he is on the defensive end. As we can see, it clearly doesn't. But being in shape is more than just defense. In the 4th quarter of this first round, Luka shot just 30/14% and was a -7.2 in his minutes. He ran out of gas time and time again, and it's not like he had to do everything for the Lakers. He played next to LeBron! Austin Reaves handles the ball some! Luka only had a 32% USG% in that series, which isn't some sort of crazy number. 

For example, Tatum finished at 33% in his series, did he look out of gas in the 4th quarter? Nope. He was 2nd in the NBA in 4th quarter scoring. Giannis was at 35%, and he was a monster for a full 48 minutes. It's not his fault his team stinks. Jalen Brunson has been at 32%, and he always finds a way to come through in the biggest moments late in games.

So really, there's no excuse for Luka to continue to be this out of shape, and this is now the second franchise that is publicly shaming him for it. The only difference is this time JJ didn't say Luka's name, but we ALL know who he's talking about. 

And you know what? He's right! The same was Nico was right when he talked about how Luka being out of shape and lazy is a problem when you're talking about competing for titles. I'm sure some out there will try and drag JJ for simply telling the truth, but those are the Luka enablers. He's now a repeat offender when it comes to his conditioning being an issue in the playoffs, and if he's going to be talked about as one of the best players in the NBA, then he needs to be held accountable. What he does on the floor has to matter, and to be a champion you NEED to be ready to produce on both ends of the floor, and you NEED to be able to have enough left in the tank to come through in high leverage situations at the end of games. 

Advertisement

That is not some sort of new concept. It's what we've seen from every champion pretty much since the NBA was created. 

Surely Luka will take this criticism to heart and not get defensive about it. It makes you wonder if stuff like this ends up rubbing Luka the wrong way, because remember, it's not as if he's signed long term. He could easily turn down his 2026-27 player option and hit the open market, where he'll be able to control where he plays next. Imagine if that happens? Luka takes this the wrong way, tunes out JJ, and then bolts? Maybe to say, join forces with his pal Jokic? God, would that be incredible drama.