In This Story
Los Angeles Lakers
Aug 4, 2025 5:37 PM EDT
It was a big weekend for Lakers star Luka Doncic, who put his signature on a new extension with the team, worth $165 million over three seasons, which means L.A. is taking on the kind of hefty commitment to Doncic that the Dallas Mavericks were not willing to take, reportedly because of concerns around Doncic’s conditioning.
But the Slovenian national team coach, Marko Milic, rolled his eyes at the concerns of teams like the Mavericks, and even the Lakers, around whether Doncic is in tip-top shape. As Milic–who will coach Doncic in this year’s EuroBasket tournament–noted, as long as the results are there, why is there so much concern about Doncic’s belt size?
Luka Doncic ‘Dominates Mentally’
Milic said the focus on conditioning is misguided. Multiple reports pointed to Doncic’s body as the reason the Mavericks traded him, and the Lakers appeared to express some concern, too, especially when coach JJ Redick said the team needed to be in “championship shape” after being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs this season.
Milic pointed to Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, arguably the best player in the league, as a guy who will not be confused for an Adonis.
“It’s important that he feels good. I don’t look at it like Americans, demanding that he adapt to their expectations and criteria. Regardless of his image, he was the league’s leading scorer and had the best seasons,” Milic said, via Svet24 (translated by HoopsHype).
“In the United States, they have a hard time understanding that Luka and Nikola Jokić are the best players in the world, because they don’t reach their physical and athletic standards. They are players who dominate mentally, technically and tactically with a smile. They will always look for faults, even now that he looks like a model, they will certainly find something else to criticize him for.”
Oops! We’re unable to load this content right now.
View directly on 𝕏
Lakers Showed No Interest in Marko Milic
Doncic led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals in 2024 and led the league with 33.9 points per game. In 2024-25, he averaged 28.2 points with 7.7 assists and 8.2 rebounds. Milic was an assistant coach with the Mavericks (he was also a former teammate of Dallas coach Jason Kidd) from 2022 until Doncic was traded in February.
He’s a welcome presence on the sideline for Doncic, but he pointed out that the Lakers did not contact him about joining the staff in L.A.
“Coaches don’t change during the year, as they all already have their professional staffs in place. But there was no real interest from them in the summer.”
About the Author
Sean Deveney