Luka Doncic responds to JJ Redick without holding back: "It's not just physical shape, it's also mental shape"
Intense training camp begins for the Los Angeles Lakers with the Slovenian player as the visible leader
Luka Doncic was one of the first to respond to the message sent by JJ Redick to his Los Angeles Lakers players before the start of the season. The Slovenian arrived with a noticeable physical change after a summer of intense training and strict dietary discipline. “It's not just physical shape, it's also mental shape,” he explained. “Both are very important. We are applying it in our training. It has been great. Everyone is in great shape. We are all running a lot, so it has been very good so far.”
Los Angeles Lakers coach, JJ Redick, pushed his team to the limit on the third day of preparation with a series of full-court sprints that tested the group's endurance. In the end, he jokingly acknowledged that his popularity might have been affected by the toughness of the work. “I don't know if they like me right now,” he admitted.
Redick, entering his second season leading the team, had finished his first season by sending a clear message: his players needed to reach “championship form” during the summer. With these demanding practices, he has only reinforced that idea regarding Doncic and the rest.
The final session before the first preseason game against the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert included six full-court runs in 34 seconds, a break, ten runs in 60 seconds, another break, and a finish with six more in 34 seconds. Redick joined the group in the final effort. “I only ran the last six,” he commented still exhausted, “and that's enough for me today.”
After a season with 50 wins, which left the Lakers in third place in the West but eliminated in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves in just five games, the coach believes that increasing demands is the way to grow without relying solely on roster changes. “I think there are three aspects that help me assess if we are in shape,” he explained. “The first would be if we are running back on defense. The second, if we are playing with pace on offense, and that includes our ability to grab rebounds and get back to defend. And the third, if we are being physical. If those three things are done at a very high level, then we are in shape.”
Guard Gabe Vincent accepted the intensity of training with humor. “I told JJ a week or two ago: 'If we all hate you, but we do it as a team, then it's okay'” he recounted. “As long as we are united in it. Obviously, no one wants to run at the end of a long practice, but we know what goal we have set and what we are aiming for. We have all embraced it. We did the runs and improved because of it.”
LeBron James' condition
Not all players were able to cope with the effort. LeBron James, with a nerve irritation in the glute, Marcus Smart, with tendinopathy in the left Achilles tendon, and rookie Adou Thiero, with inflammation in the left knee, were absent from training and the game against Phoenix. Also, Maxi Kleber will need to rest “for a few days,” according to Redick, after the medical team assessed a quad injury suffered on the first day of camp.
In preparation for the first exhibition game, the coach announced that his players will have “short stints” to avoid staying on the court for eight to ten consecutive minutes. Additionally, he emphasized that he will be “considerate” of Doncic and Austin Reaves' workload, especially since the Slovenian played in the EuroBasket this summer.
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