The plan, Luka Doncic mentioned Thursday after the the Lakers’ third day of coaching camp, is to go “a little bit slower” throughout these classes so he doesn’t completely tax his physique after a summer time of taking part in hoops along with his nation’s nationwide crew.
A couple of month in the past, Doncic and Slovenia have been eradicated from the 2025 EuroBasket within the quarterfinals by Germany, his 39 factors not sufficient to salvage a win.
Doncic, who slimmed down this offseason, had been taking part in at a peak stage then, however now he and the Lakers need to ease him again into issues with the hopes of avoiding accidents.
“Yeah, obviously probably take it a little bit slower than the usual,” mentioned Doncic, who will play within the Lakers’ first preseason sport Friday night time towards the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert. “I had a busy summer. I think month, month and a half I was with national team. So, it was kind of a lot. But that got me ready for the preseason and obviously regular season. So, for me, I think it really helps.”
This camp for the Lakers and Doncic is all about being in tip-top form, one thing coach JJ Redick careworn after they have been eradicated within the first spherical of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It has meant extra drills, extra operating, extra exertion.
“Yeah, we just talked about today,” Doncic mentioned. “It’s not just physical shape. It’s mental shape too. So, that kind of goes both ways. Both are very important. We’re doing practice. It was great. Everybody’s in great shape. Everybody’s running a lot so it’s been great so far.”
Over the primary three days of camp, the Lakers have seen Doncic dominate.
They’ve seen his creativity, his potential to search out teammates from all locations on the courtroom.
“Yeah. I think I’m just reminded of his own greatness,” Gabe Vincent mentioned. “He sees the floor so well. He could score from anywhere on the floor. He is always a threat. But he does such a good job of commanding defenses. He gets all 10 eyes on him and he sees the floor and he makes a good read nine times out of 10.”
Nonetheless, there are moments when the Lakers are studying play alongside Doncic. They’re studying his fashion, which might solely assist them in the course of the common season
“Yeah, I think a bit,” Vincent mentioned. “But like I don’t really see Luka as a premeditated individual, you know what I mean? He’s very much so reading and reactive, so you have to read and react with him. So I see it that way. He’s high IQ. LeBron [James is] pretty similar in that route as well. So, it’s definitely still learning him, learning what he likes and doesn’t like. And just playing at his level.”
Getting in form
Because the finish of final season, the mantra from Redick was for his crew to be in championship form.
To that finish, on the shut of the Lakers’ third day of coaching camp, Redick pushed his gamers through which they needed to run for six minutes, 10 minutes and 6 minutes.
“I don’t know if they like me right now for what we just finished practice with,” Redick joked.
Apparently, Vincent mentioned, it wasn’t a difficulty for him and his teammates.
“I told JJ about a week or two ago, I said, ‘If we all hate you, but we all hate you collectively, that’s great,’ ” Vincent mentioned. “So, as long as we’re together in it. … Obviously no one wants to run at the end of a long practice. But we know the goal we have set for ourselves and we know what we’re trying to do moving forward and we all embraced it, we all got the run in and we all got better for it.”
Damage replace
Redick mentioned James, Maxi Kleber (quad), Marcus Sensible (achilles tendinopathy) and Aduo Thiero (knee) won’t play towards the Suns.
Redick mentioned Kleber had an MRI examination and that “he’ll be out a few days.”
“It’s a very minor thing with his quad,” Redick mentioned. “But we’re going to be cautious with him, just like we will all our guys right now.”
