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Image Credits: Imagn
Imago
Image Credits: Imagn
Dallas is recovering, but that one loss to LA still lingers with what if Flagg & Luka were together. Things of the past, surely, but the February superstar is now heading to the next season with a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders. Luka Doncic is gearing up for his first full season in Hollywood with the hopes of leading them to the championship, a dream he missed in Dallas in 2023/24. And as LA seems excited to hand over the reins to Doncic for his solid resume of five All-NBA honors and 82 career triple-doubles, many still question if the 26-year-old is working on his earned “fat” and “out of shape” tags. However, this offseason, Doncic has been on a mission to change that.
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The Lakers’ point guard already made huge waves earlier this year when he stunned everyone by looking in arguably the best shape he’s ever been in during an offseason. However, that was just the beginning. Since then, Luka Doncic has taken things up a notch and has been training two times a day, that too, while fasting. It’s safe to say that this regime has been yielding spectacular results for the Slovenian. “Just visually, I would say my whole body looks better,“ he told Men’s Health Magazine. But the motivation to work on himself?
Although the entire credit for this insane transformation should belong to Luka Doncic and his trainer Anze Macek, it’s hard not to think where he would be if Nico Harrison did not make that trade, right? Nico’s excuse to export the star became the Lakers’ No. 77 motivation. Even though not a lot of people believed the Dallas GM at first, they had to when chatter began in Los Angeles, with head coach JJ Redick claiming that his team needs to be in shape to contest for the title.
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As he begins a week of Jordan Brand appearances, Luka Dončić is also featured in @MensHealthMag, talking extensively about his offseason training and his body transformation this summer.
“If I stop now,” Dončić told the magazine, “it was all for nothing.” pic.twitter.com/ItL3WiOjUk
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 28, 2025
So, when fans saw Luka look chiseled like a Greek god as he sets himself up for making Jordan Brand appearances this week, they couldn’t help but give a tiny bit of credit to the public enemy No. 1 in Dallas, Nico Harrison. Although we can never truly know what would’ve happened if Doncic stayed at Dallas, you’ve got to agree with all these fans to some extent.
NBA community credits Nico Harrison for Luka Doncic’s latest transformation
For months, Nico Harrison had been on the bad books of not just Dallas Mavericks fans, but every basketball fan in general. However, everything began to change during the offseason when Dallas bagged the No. 1 pick in this season’s draft and landed Cooper Flagg from it. Now, the Mavs GM is getting credit for enabling Luka Doncic’s latest version. A lot can change within a month in basketball, right? It sure seems so for Nico Harrison, as fans are now demanding that other supporters apologize to the Dallas executive.
“If Nico doesn’t trade him, he doesn’t do the “revenge bod.” So apparently Nico was right this whole time.” One fan commented after seeing Luka Doncic’s incredible transformation. He suggested that if Harrison had not traded Doncic, we would’ve never seen this version of the Los Angeles Lakers guard.
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Mar 10, 2025; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) brings the ball up court against the Brooklyn Nets during the first quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
“Y’all need to apologize to Nico. He clearly was right.” A fan wrote on X. After seeing this comment, it’s hard to imagine that just a few months back, these were the fans urging the Mavs to fire him. Another fan gave his thoughts after seeing Luka Doncic 2.0. “I hate that it was the Mavericks, but I’m glad he finally has the motivation he needed, and Nico created a monster.” He suggested. The user who seemed like a Dallas fan was gutted that Doncic is no longer a part of the Mavs, but happy to see the Slovenian find motivation to prove everyone wrong.
This wasn’t all; more fans echoed similar opinions as they stated that Nico Harrison was right: “These photos are nuts. A “shredded” Luka Dončić is frightening.” A user said. He suggested that the league should be scared of this new version of Doncic. At the same time, another user complimented Luka Doncic’s spectacular new physique, “Luka with the revenge body Lol,” she wrote. You can guess by these comments that the fans have realized that Nico Harrison’s abrupt decision to trade Luka Doncic might’ve actually been a blessing in disguise for LA.
Written by
Edited by
Md Saba Ahmed