Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic faced a ton of backlash for his apparent lack of conditioning and overall fitness levels during the 2025 NBA playoffs. The Minnesota Timberwolves specifically targeted Doncic on defense, and they prevailed with a 4-1 series victory over the Lakers in the first round.
It appears Doncic is committed to making severe lifestyle changes.
On May 22, Anamaria Goltes, Doncic’s fiancée, shared a photo of the dinner she prepared for the Slovenian star on social media. Popular Lakers X account @LakeShowYo highlighted that the meal, a vegetable- and rice-based melange, looked healthy and nutritious, propelling positive reactions about Doncic’s supposed new diet.
“Luka Doncic’s wife cooking healthy food. League is in trouble next season.”
According to Lakers beat writer Jason Gallagher, Doncic is determined to improve his conditioning ahead of the 2025-26 season.
“I have heard from folks that are pretty honest about the conditioning stuff that Luka has already begun to ‘clean slate’ — starting anew,” Gallagher said on “The Dumb Zone” podcast. “He’s already in this mindset of changing a lot about himself. Now, I’ve heard it a before. But not from specific people that have been critical of him.”
Gallagher’s comments came shortly after it was announced that the Lakers were looking to hire a new “Head Strength & Conditioning Coach,” which many felt was directly related to their concerns about Doncic’s conditioning levels.
The job description states that the new coach would be “responsible for motivating players and holding them accountable for their work in the weight room.”
ESPN’s Jay Williams felt that the Lakers indirectly insulted Doncic by posting the new job on the internet.
“This is a massive insult,” Williams told ESPN’s “Get Up” on May 14
“To say online that you’re looking for a strength and conditioning coach, that’s embarrassing,” Williams continued. “You don’t do that. Instead, you have private conversations with world-class conditioning coaches to say, ‘Hey, this is the right team we need around LeBron James and Luka.’ You don’t post that online!”
Lakers head coach JJ Redick also indirectly took a swipe at Doncic’s conditioning after the 2024-25 season. In his exit interview, Redick said some people in the team weren’t in “championship shape” during the playoff series against the Timberwolves.
“I’ll start with the offseason and the work that’s required in an offseason to be in championship shape,” Redick said on May 1. “And we have a ways to go as a roster. And certainly, there are individuals who were in phenomenal shape. There are certainly other ones that could have been in better shape. That’s where my mind goes immediately, is we have to get in championship shape.”
Doncic will be eligible to sign a contract extension with the Lakers in the 2025 offseason. According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, the leagewide expectation is for Doncic to put pen to paper and cement himself as the Lakers’ new franchise star.
“I would be shocked if there’s not some sort of extension this summer,” he told the Dan Patrick Show, via Lakers Nation.
There’s a lot of factors. I don’t want to bog you down with CBA minutia and all that kind of stuff, but what I know of Luka, and I haven’t talked to him directly about this, but talking to people who know Luka well, I think he’s fully committed to L.A. now. His heart was broken, but he’s fully committed to the Lakers. His goal now is to win championships with that franchise.”
