There has never been a question that Luka Dončić is a great basketball player — easily one of the best in the world. There have always been lingering concerns about the star guard's fitness.
Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd was frustrated by it. GM Nico Harrison was so over it, he made the most boneheaded trade in NBA history. Now it sounds like Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick is already on the same train.
The day after the Lakers crashed out of the playoffs on Wednesday night, Redick said his roster must "get in championship shape" over the offseason. He did not name names, but everyone and their mother jumped to the same conclusion. He had to be talking about Luka, right?
This isn't new. Dončić knows this and has known this. Whatever methods for motivating him in Dallas didn't work. The Lakers have to figure something else out. Maybe it's calling him out in public, whether by name or not. Maybe it's tethering him to LeBron James for the offseason.
Before Nico Harrison goes on a victory lap, let's talk about the Lakers
To be fair, Dončić was not the only Laker who looked gassed by Game 5. To be even more fair, the head coach used such a limited rotation, it's a wonder those players lasted as long as they did. To amp up the fairness to 100, depth was always going to be a massive issue for Los Angeles, the way Rob Pelinka built the roster for this season.
So yeah, there are multiple layers to all of this. Dončić needs to be more fit if he wants to get over the championship hump. Redick needs to be more flexible with his rotation choices. And Pelinka needs to give all of them a far more viable bench. The expectation in Los Angeles is championships and that standard needs to be applied from top to bottom.
Harrison should resist doing any victory lapping over this since his "defense wins championships" roster didn't make it any further in the playoffs. Moreover, Dončić, with all his conditioning issues still managed to drag the Mavericks to the NBA Finals a year ago.
I'm still willing to bet the Lakers can go further with an out-of-shape Luka than the Mavs will with a perpetually-injured Anthony Davis.