As if Luka Dončić didn't already have enough to deal with since his Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA playoffs, now he has to listen to walking meme Nick Young piling on him about his conditioning.
Young, or Swaggy P as he was once known, spoke about Luka on a recent episode of Gilbert Arenas' podcast Gil's Arena, and to be honest, we're still trying to figure out what he was going for on his unhinged rant about Luka's weight.
On the one hand, he seemed bound and determined to let everyone know just how fat he thinks the newest Lakers star is, except he did it in a way that feels like something that Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison would say after three or four Vodka Red Bulls. Caution: the below clip is very much NSFW due to language.
Unlike Harrison, who was evidently not OK with Luka's roundness because he traded the five-time first team All-NBAer out of Dallas and sabotaged his own reputation and possibly career in the process, Swaggy P makes it clear that despite the presence of a few Slovenian love handles, he still likes Luka and the Lakers.
The "Luka is fat" narrative is already old and tired
There's something fitting about Arenas sitting there in a clown costume as Young body-shames a guy who just scored over 30 points per game in a playoff series against one of the league's best defensive teams. Luka could have contributed more in the way of rebounds and assists, but he can't be considered one of the Lakers' biggest problems after head coach JJ Redick essentially refused to play his entire bench because he doesn't trust them. He also gutted out a stomach bug that made life miserable for him in Game 3.
Young is famous to even non-basketball fans for being somewhat of a joke. He once famously fumbled the bag by cheating on rapper Iggy Azalea, a situation that was brought to light by then-teammate D'Angelo Russell recording and then leaking his confession. The ensuing fallout was a fitting end to a Lakers season that ended up being, at 17-65, the single worst in franchise history.
Young is also known for being the main character of two memes, one for his confused expression in a YouTube web series, and the other for prematurely celebrating a 3-pointer that ended up clanking harmlessly off the rim.
Young, and Gil's Arena for that matter, aren't exactly known for their nuanced and thoughtful takes, but this one feels like a low blow, even for them. Never before has a player so good been criticized so heavily just because he doesn't have the typical NBA body. Nikola Jokic doesn't have a six-pack either, but the three-time MVP doesn't have to hear about that because his game is better than anyone who can run faster or jump higher.
Luka isn't Jokic, but he isn't so far off. He's had one of the best starts to an NBA career that we've ever seen, but ever since the Mavericks front office waged a full-scale anti-Luka PR campaign after trading him (an unnecessary and petty move, to say the least), NBA fans and analysts have piled on by also lambasting him for his conditioning.
Luka was already the second-greatest Maverick in history behind Dirk Nowitzki, and on his way to challenging the legendary German for the top spot. It's not an exaggeration to say that he's now the savior of the long-term future of the Lakers, regardless of how the team fell short this year. LeBron James, we think, will eventually retire, which will leave Luka to continue the proud legacy of the Lakers as The Guy.
This Lakers team was seriously flawed, with a shallow bench, no center and a serious lack of defense. Luka's not exactly a shutdown defender, but the team's inability to get stops is about more than just him. As for the lack of a bench and any meaningful post presence, that's not something that he has any control over. If anything, he tried to fix one of those problems by getting the Lakers to trade for Mark Williams, but that deal fell apart when Williams failed his physical.
Luka showed last year that he could take a team to the Finals when he has a well-constructed roster around him (Did I just compliment Nico Harrison? Oh boy). The Lakers and GM Rob Pelinka will add more pieces around him this summer, and then they'll be in a better position to show what they can do. Maybe Luka will even drop a couple of pounds to keep the haters at bay, but the reality is that if the Lakers win big in the coming years, nobody will have anything to say, especially someone like Nick Young.