Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is happy for his co-star, Luka Doncic, for the offseason work he’s put in. Over the summer, Doncic dedicated his time and effort to shut down the narrative about his physical conditioning. The star shed weight and played for the Slovenian men’s national basketball team at the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket with his new body.
It was the biggest topic among NBA fans, especially since his lack of physical conditioning was one of the main reasons why the Dallas Mavericks traded him last season. Doncic wanted to prove the doubters wrong, which is why he spent extra time on his body.
After the Slovenian star debuted a new look, James did not hesitate to compliment the work that his co-star put in. In the latest episode of his podcast with former NBA star Steve Nash, “Mind the Game,” the four-time champion opened up about Doncic’s new mindset and body.
“Yeah, for sure. I watched a lot of the EuroBasket this summer too. I watched his team a lot, obviously, him being my teammate and him seeing how he can carry a Slovenian team to whatever heights he did. He was right there with Germany in the semis. He just looks, obviously, a little bit quicker, a little bit more functional,” James said.
LeBron James said that Doncic’s game won’t change. He believes that his teammate’s reaction and approach to maintain being fit after experiencing the NBA grind will be the obvious change. The four-time MVP said he is happy with the job the European player has done.
“So I’m super duper proud of him, obviously he don’t need to hear it from me it’s what he wanted to do for himself and that’s the only thing that matters. But I need to get on his regiment a little bit now, I’m gonna take some tips from him.”
LeBron James weighed in on his former teammate’s Hall of Fame case
Throughout his career, LeBron James has shared the court with several Hall of Fame players. However, Dennis Schroder was added to that list throughout the summer. The NBA guard has been spectacular every time he suits up for the German men’s national basketball team.
In the latest episode of his show, he reflected on his former teammate’s case for the Hall of Fame.
“If (Schröder is elected), I wouldn’t be like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so proud!” James said. “No. He’s put in the work, man.”
This past summer, he led Germany to win the gold at the EuroBasket. He also bagged the MVP award of the tournament. A year before that, he led the country to a fourth-place finish at the 2024 Paris Olympics. In 2023, Germany won gold at the FIBA World Cup and he was named MVP.
In 2022, Schroder led the country to a gold-medal finish in the EuroBasket tournament.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
