The 2025-26 NBA season is still months away, but Luka Doncic has already won the hearts of the Laker Nation.
The Los Angeles Lakers have potentially found their superstar for the foreseeable future, and it’s none other than Luka Doncic.
While there’s no debate about Doncic’s greatness, it was obvious that the 5x NBA All-Star wasn’t at his peak conditioning during the 2024-25 NBA season.
Evidently, Doncic faced a wave of criticism from the media and fans alike. Instead of feeling discouraged due to it, Luka has shocked fans with his early transformation as he has lost considerable weight.
Despite not being at 100%, Doncic averaged 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game for the Lakers last season.
However, these numbers weren’t enough to stop a barrage of criticism directed towards him. Well, according to NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins, Doncic has used his critics to motivate himself.
“It’s gonna be a problem this year for the rest of the league. I believe Luka Doncic took the disrespect into the offseason, and I applaud it, because the great Kevin Garnett always told me, ‘Don’t just turn on the TV.
“Don’t just click on the internet, get on social media when people are talking good about you, get on there when people are talking bad about you. Listen to the haters, listen to the critics, and respond,’” Perkins said on the Road Trippin’ podcast.
Honestly, it feels like Doncic will play with a chip on his shoulder next season. In fact, Chris Broussard compared Doncic’s transformation to Michael Jordan’s.
Of course, expectations are at an all-time high for Luka, but he finally seems equipped to deal with his critics.
Big Perk further shared his views on the new version of Doncic, claiming that the LA Lakers star took the disrespect to his heart.
“We all understand that the season is not here, we’re three months away, or whatever the case may be, but damn it, if you’re a Laker fan, you ought to be excited to see your new franchise player putting in that work and taking the disrespect to heart,” Perkins continued.
The ESPN analyst also admitted that he disrespected the Slovenian superstar last season.
“And I was one of the ones who disrespected Luka because, hey, it was valid, he deserved disrespect for being out of shape for not sliding those puppies in on the defensive side of things.”
Perkins concluded by announcing Doncic as his early pick to win the 2025-26 NBA regular season MVP award.
“But Luka, the first step of winning the Laker franchise in the fan base over, you have done it by. By the way, he’s my early pick for MVP.”
