The plan, Luka Doncic said Thursday after the the Lakers’ third day of training camp, is to go “a little bit slower” during these sessions so he doesn’t totally tax his body after a summer of playing hoops with his country’s national team.
About a month ago, Doncic and Slovenia were eliminated from the 2025 EuroBasket in the quarterfinals by Germany, his 39 points not enough to salvage a win.
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Doncic, who slimmed down this offseason, had been playing at a peak level then, but now he and the Lakers want to ease him back into things with the hopes of avoiding injuries.
“Yeah, obviously probably take it a little bit slower than the usual,” said Doncic, who will play in the Lakers’ first preseason game Friday night against the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert. “I had a busy summer. I think month, month and a half I was with national team. So, it was kind of a lot. But that got me ready for the preseason and obviously regular season. So, for me, I think it really helps.”
This camp for the Lakers and Doncic is all about being in tip-top shape, something coach JJ Redick stressed after they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It has meant more drills, more running, more exertion.
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“Yeah, we just talked about today,” Doncic said. “It’s not just physical shape. It’s mental shape too. So, that kind of goes both ways. Both are very important. We’re doing practice. It was great. Everybody’s in great shape. Everybody’s running a lot so it’s been great so far.”
Over the first three days of camp, the Lakers have seen Doncic dominate.
They have seen his creativity, his ability to find teammates from all places on the court.
“Yeah. I think I’m just reminded of his own greatness,” Gabe Vincent said. “He sees the floor so well. He could score from anywhere on the floor. He is always a threat. But he does such a good job of commanding defenses. He gets all 10 eyes on him and he sees the floor and he makes a good read nine times out of 10.”
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Still, there are moments when the Lakers are learning how to play alongside Doncic. They are learning his style, which can only help them during the regular season
“Yeah, I think a bit,” Vincent said. “But like I don’t really see Luka as a premeditated individual, you know what I mean? He’s very much so reading and reactive, so you have to read and react with him. So I see it that way. He’s high IQ. LeBron [James is] pretty similar in that route as well. So, it’s definitely still learning him, learning what he likes and doesn’t like. And just playing at his level.”
Getting in shape
Since the end of last season, the mantra from Redick was for his team to be in championship shape.
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To that end, at the close of the Lakers’ third day of training camp, Redick pushed his players in which they had to run for six minutes, 10 minutes and six minutes.
“I don’t know if they like me right now for what we just finished practice with,” Redick joked.
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Apparently, Vincent said, it wasn’t an issue for him and his teammates.
“I told JJ about a week or two ago, I said, ‘If we all hate you, but we all hate you collectively, that’s great,’ ” Vincent said. “So, as long as we’re together in it. … Obviously no one wants to run at the end of a long practice. But we know the goal we have set for ourselves and we know what we’re trying to do moving forward and we all embraced it, we all got the run in and we all got better for it.”
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Injury update
Redick said James, Maxi Kleber (quad), Marcus Smart (achilles tendinopathy) and Aduo Thiero (knee) will not play against the Suns.
Redick said Kleber had an MRI exam and that “he’ll be out a few days.”
“It’s a very minor thing with his quad,” Redick said. “But we’re going to be cautious with him, just like we will all our guys right now.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
