‘It Ain’t Been That Long for Him to Lose All That Weight Like That!’: Luka Dončić’s OffSeaon Weight Loss Transformation Has Lakers Fans Celebrating While Chad Ochocinco Johnson Is Left Confused
Luka Dončić’s 2024-2025 NBA season ended on April 30 with a loss when the Los Angeles Lakers fell to his former squad, the Dallas Mavericks, in the first round of the playoffs.
The Slovenian professional basketball player has apparently used his time since the Lakers failed to go deep in this year’s postseason to drop some pounds.
Doncic, 26, recently attended a Real Madrid game, where he showed up to support the Spanish team he made his professional debut in 2015.
On May 27, the five-time NBA All-Star posted a photo of himself inside Movistar Arena to his Instagram Story. Additional images of the 2019 NBA Rookie of the Year also made their way to social media.
X users zeroed in on Dončić’s slimmed-down body frame. The 2018 EuroLeague MVP transformed in less than a month since the Mavs bounced the Lakers after five games.
Dončić’s weight and conditioning have become major talking points among NBA viewers and opinionated media personalities. So, seeing his slimmer physique excites many L.A. fans.
Luka Dončić: Before & After…
pic.twitter.com/DSVl1m83CN
— Lakers Better (@LakersBetter) May 27, 2025
“He’ll stay slim all season, right?” one person on the X app wondered. .”
“You know LeBron gonna make his ass stay in shape,” tweeted someone on the platform, referring to Dončić’s legendary Lakers teammate, four-time NBA champion LeBron James.
However, one individual pushed back on the reactions to the new pictures of Dončić by writing, “Yes, he put a shirt on, stop acting like he was fat before. This is a stupid narrative.”
“Good for him taking that criticism and using it as motivation,” a supporter of the 6-foot-6 point guard declared.
Dončić has been open about facing online scrutiny over his size. While still playing for the Mavericks from 2018 to 2025, he addressed people focusing on his body.
“People on Twitter say every stuff,” Luka was quoted as saying in 2020. “But, it’s true I’m not in my best shape. I will get there for sure. But, you know, I’ve never been a muscular guy, so what can I say?”
In 2021, he also said, “I had a long summer, and then I relax a little bit, maybe too much, and I’ve just got to get back on track.” Dončić was coming off leading Slovenia to a fourth-place finish at the delayed Tokyo Summer Olympics in August 2021.
There were claims that the Mavs included Dončić in a blockbuster, internet-breaking trade to the Lakers in February, partially because of concern that he was supposedly overweight by NBA guard standards.
Several high-profile sports analysts and podcasters have shared their takes on Dončić’s body structure. Basketball Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, 59, called out Maverick executives for allegedly promoting a smear campaign against the 2024 NBA scoring champion.
“You don’t become a First Team All-NBA player five years in a row if you’re not in shape. So please stop the character assassination that this guy is out of shape, he’s lazy,” Miller argued, per Sports Illustrated in February.
The NBA commentator continued, “I don’t like that because you don’t get at that level at the age of 25 without doing what he’s done. There’s other things behind the scenes that I’m sure we don’t know about, but let’s not make it about conditioning.”
Retired NFL players-turned-media figures Shannon Sharpe, 56, and Chad Johnson, 47, weighed in on the Dončić weight discussion in an episode of the “Nightcap” podcast this week. They were joined by six-time NBA All-Star Jermaine O’Neal.
“I don’t care what he looks like right now,” Sharpe said in response to the latest photos of Luke, before adding, “I’m talking about when he comes back to play. I want him to look like this when he comes back to play.”
Johnson then questioned if Dončić used Ozempic to shed a few pounds before Sharpe insisted NBA players are not allowed to take the controversial weight loss drug.
“How many weeks have they been out of the season? It ain’t been that long for him to lose all that weight like that! I think he probably took that [Ozempic] stuff. I’m telling you,” Johnson fired back.
O’Neal, 46, offered a theory on Dončić’s weight fluctuation. The former Portland Trail Blazers big man stated, “When you watch him play with his national team, he always looks thinner. Then he comes back to the United States, and it’s like he’s eating yeast rolls and pasta.”
Despite the emphasis put on his supposed lack of conditioning, Dončić remains one of the top basketball players in the world. The Real Madrid president celebrated the man also known as “Luka Magic” by presenting him with a pair of jerseys.
Doncic also received a standing ovation from the Real Madrid crowd when he popped up at the game versus Fundacion Granada on May 25. His ex-team pulled out a 79 to 67 victory over the Liga ACB league club.
Following his four-season stint with Real Madrid, Dončić was selected with the third overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2018 NBA draft. The Hawks quickly sent him to the Mavericks for the draft rights to fellow rookie Trae Young.
The Lakers shifting off Max Christie, Anthony Davis, and a 2029 first-round pick for Dončić, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris shocked the professional basketball world in February. Dončić has averaged 28.6 points per game in the regular season throughout his NBA tenure with the Mavs and Lakers.