In a new Men’s Health cover story, the Lakers guard, who was the subject of much weight-related discussion following a bombshell trade to L.A. back in February, got real about his offseason training regimen, his intense diet and the work he has put into this body ahead of his next NBA campaign.
If I stop now,” the future Hall of Famer told the outlet, “it was all for nothing.”
To get in tip-top shape, Doncic is grinding through two-a-day workouts, following a gluten-free, low-sugar diet and consuming at least 250 grams of protein a day, all as organized by his three-person Team Luka (a physiotherapist, a trainer and a nutritionist). He is also on an intermittent fasting plan, which means he stops eating from 8:30 p.m. to 12 p.m. the following day.
“Just visually, I would say my whole body looks better,” Doncic said of his new look.
At the end of last season, when the Lakers were handily knocked from the playoffs by the dominant Minnesota Timberwolves, the guard immediately turned to the gym. Indeed, just one day after the loss, he texted his manager Lara Beth Seager to get his training program going immediately.
So every summer I try my best to work on different things,” he said. “Obviously, I’m very competitive. This summer was just a little bit different, you know. It kind of motivated me to be even better.
Shockingly enough, this regimen required him to take a full-month break from basketball, so his body could fully recover from the grind of the game. Luka was hesitant at first, but eventually agreed, and instead turned to a weight-lifting routine and just-for-fun games like pickleball and padel to fill his hoop-less hours.
At the beginning, it was hard,” Doncic said of the break. “I can’t be without basketball. But when I was a little kid, I played a lot of sports.”
And he still brought his competitive edge to these contents, no matter how casual. “There were a lot of angry moments, too, when we would lose,” he went on. “But I didn’t lose much.”
All in all, Doncic plans to continue to channel the work ethic of the game’s greats—think Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, both of whom trained intensely during the offseason—and maintain this renewed focus on health in the coming years. He even thinks there’s a chance his vertical is higher now, after all of the work he’s put in with Team Luka.
This year, with my team, I think we did a huge step,” he said. “But this is just the start, you know. I need to keep going. Can’t stop.”
