A lean, mean Luka Doncic looks primed for a dominant season with the Los Angeles Lakers. Reports indicate the Slovenian guard is in the best shape of his career — a promising sign for the Lakers’ championship ambitions.
“Luka looks like he’s in the best shape since his rookie year,” ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said on the “Hoop Collective” podcast earlier this week.
“He’s as lean as he’s been since he came into the league,” MacMahon continued. “… I expect he’ll defend his scoring title. I expect that he’s going to average something like 34, 9 and 9, which is production we’ve seen from him before.”
MacMahon has authored a book on Doncic and has covered him since his teenage years. As such, he’s as qualified as anyone to judge Doncic’s physical conditioning.
Luka Doncic Weight
The insider suspects that Doncic is likely in the 230-ish lbs range entering the 2026-27 season. Slovenian outlet Sportklub had also reported last month that Doncic was in the range of 105 kilograms (231 lbs) during the final stage of his offseason in Slovenia.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin framed Doncic’s dramatic weight loss as a “huge development” for his career, notably coming during his age-27 season.
“That’s a huge development, and obviously it looked like it from, you know, the film and photos I’ve seen,” said McMenamin, who covered Doncic on the Lakers last year.
“But it’s one thing for a guy like Luka to go on this regimented diet and workout plan last summer to get a contract extension, but if he’s in better shape now than he was last summer to secure that bag, that’s a great sign for the Lakers,” added McMenamin.
Lakers Build Around Luka Doncic
While the 2026–27 season technically marks Doncic’s third with the Lakers — including his midseason arrival in 2024–25 — the franchise views it as the official start of the Doncic era following LeBron James’s departure.
And the Lakers haven’t been shy about admitting that every move they made this offseason was to appease Doncic. Lakers GM Rob Pelinka revealed recently that Doncic had massive input in the offseason additions of Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton and others.
“Luka is very clear, like, ‘I want you to do your job. I don’t want to be the GM. I don’t want to be the head coach. JJ, you’re the coach. Rob, you’re the GM and president. Do your jobs. But we can co-create. Let’s share ideas. Let’s break down pros and cons and look, you know, look at all aspects of a potential decision point before we make it,'” Pelinka told ESPN Radio.
“He’s been thoughtful. He’s brilliant. And I think he’s really excited about this group, and I think we saw that with some of the clips and footage we’ve seen from Luka’s little mini-camp in Slovenia.”
Lakers Get Great News as Luka Doncic Makes ‘Huge Development’