In 2024, the NBA had 125 international players from 43 different countries, a true sign that the game has gone global.
One of the league’s best foreign players is Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Dončić.
Dončić has had quite the offseason, highlighted by his body transformation. According to Slovenian POP TV, he has lost 31 pounds.
On top of that, one of Luka’s teammates on the Slovenian team, Klemen Prepelič, has some positive thoughts correlating to Dončić’s transformation.
“I noticed it already at the first training. He talks much more than in the past,” Prepelič told SportKlub last Thursday.
“He’s embracing the challenge of being the face of a franchise — in the NBA and here. His words carry weight.”
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Fans and media of basketball have been quick to judge Dončić on his body, especially after his performance in the 2024 NBA finals.
Although his reported top weight was once 270 pounds, he has since made significant changes.
His weight has never seemed to stop him from becoming an incredible player. He is a career 28-point-per-game scorer and still fills out the rest of the stat sheet.
He also made comments revealing that he credits this transformation to having a lot more time, noting that last year it was difficult because of his schedule.
Going straight from the NBA finals to the Olympics, to training camp, he was always focused on basketball rather than his body.
Now he seems to have embraced the changes and accepted the criticism, which should excite basketball fans everywhere.
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