Author: NBA Basketball News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

As NBA teams chase youth in the quest for a title, this team is trying the opposite approach originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Last summer, Chris Paul was, like many Southern Californians, curious about the new Inglewood arena that the Los Angeles Clippers were only weeks away from opening.

Unlike most locals, however, Paul had been one of the best players in the NBA while playing for the Clippers from 2011-17. And although he was about to play for the San Antonio Spurs, he still knew well the new arena’s ultimate tour guide: Steve Ballmer, the Clippers’ owner, who showed the point guard around.

“I was like, ‘Damn, I wonder what the locker room looks like?’” Paul said.

One year later, Paul walked back into the locker room before his introduction Monday as the Clippers’ latest offseason signing and took note of the differences between his two eras playing for the franchise. New arena, new logo and this: During his first stint, he headlined a team of young, athletic upstarts challenging the league’s entrenched title contenders. Next season, the 40-year-old Paul and the Clippers will still be pursuing their first NBA championship — but this time behind aspirations that hinge on the NBA’s oldest roster.

“There’s a lot of gratitude or whatnot to still get a chance to play at this age,” Paul said.

The NBA has never been more of a young man’s league. Last season’s average age was 26.3 years, and tireless young legs propelled both Oklahoma City and Indiana to June’s NBA Finals. Oklahoma City made the finals with an average age of 25.6 years, the second-youngest team to reach the championship round in the previous 70 years. And when the Thunder won the championship, they were the youngest to do so since 1977.

After the Clippers’ last season ended in the first round, the team’s top basketball executive, Lawrence Frank, described adding youth and athleticism as a priority.

Yet the Clippers have since become one of the NBA’s most fascinating teams by eschewing such youth, betting that experience will give them a puncher’s chance.

The team expects to play a nine-man rotation, Frank said this month, but could credibly go 11 deep. The average age of those 11 is more than 33 years old, which Yahoo Sports determined would be a year older than the previous oldest roster in NBA history.

“What’s age? It’s just a number, right?” Frank joked with reporters earlier this month.

At 40, Paul might be an outlier as the NBA’s second-oldest active player, behind only LeBron James, but he fits right into an offseason that has seen the team sign 37-year-old center Brook Lopez, retain 37-year-old do-everything forward Nicolas Batum, re-sign 36-year-old guard James Harden and sign 32-year-old former All-Star guard Bradley Beal. Of the team’s 11 players who are largely expected to earn regular playing time, just three — Ivica Zubac, Derrick Jones Jr. and offseason acquisition John Collins, all of whom will be 28 when the season begins — are under 30.

“The goal is to get this team as good as we possibly can get it, regardless of age, and everyone’s entitled to the judgments they want to make on the group,” Frank said last week, after the signing of Paul. “We’re super excited about the group. I think part of the things that, with age, typically, people worry about [is] increased chance for injury. That’s why we lean into the depth.”

The Clippers, clearly, see their experience as a strength. Yet there is a reason only the 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks (31.6 years) and 1997-98 Chicago Bulls (32.1 years) have won NBA titles with an average age older than 31. Deep playoff runs require skill, which the Clippers undoubtedly possess, but also durability and stamina, and no one can foresee what next season holds for Beal, who has played 196 out of a possible 328 games his past four seasons, or Kawhi Leonard, who has played 157.

Yet when asked about the team’s age, Frank immediately recited that Paul and Lopez, the Clippers’ oldest players, had started a combined 162 out of 164 possible games just last season.

“So it’s not like these guys were productive three years ago, or four years ago, they were productive players last year,” Frank said.

The Clippers aren’t the only contender to believe it needed more seasoning. Houston was one of last season’s biggest success stories, producing the Western Conference’s second-best record despite owning the league’s ninth-youngest roster, with an average age, by minutes played, of 25.2. Yet after losing in the playoffs’ first round, Houston decided it needed Kevin Durant, who’ll turn 37 before the season starts, to realize its potential.

Going old in a league that skews young wasn’t the Clippers’ master plan. In the short term, and by Frank’s admission, landing Lopez as a free agent was no guarantee, Beal wasn’t initially expected to be available — becoming a free agent only after Phoenix bought his contract to the tune of $96 million — and signing Paul required the starter for virtually his entire two-decade career to accept a role as a reserve. The Clippers made those moves, ultimately, because they allowed the team to improve, regardless of age, while still being “disciplined to our plan,” Frank said.

That long-term plan, as rival executives view it, has seen the team unwilling to extend pricey contracts past 2026, a priority that will wipe clean virtually the Clippers’ entire current payroll within two seasons. It’s just the type of blank slate, in an attractive market like Los Angeles, that might woo a disgruntled star seeking a trade, or a big-name free agent.

Most teams would clear their books and transition for the future by filling the team with low-cost, younger players. Yet the Clippers have not begun a youth movement for a variety of reasons. One is resources: A 2019 trade with Oklahoma City hamstrung the number of available first-round picks the Clippers could use to theoretically rebuild their roster through the draft. As a workaround, the Clippers have tried giving second chances to young, talented players who had burned through their welcome with previous teams for either on-court or legal reasons, yet none has panned out.

Philosophy has also been a significant factor in why the Clippers have owned the league’s oldest roster each of the past three seasons. Ballmer, the owner and former Microsoft chief executive, does not believe that building a roster to intentionally lose its way to a top draft pick is good for business, or retaining fans in a city already saturated by its rival.

“Each year we are going to put the best possible team we can, while staying disciplined to our plan, to give ourselves and give our team and give our fans the best possible experience of a team that’s trying to compete at the highest level,” Frank said.

That was an attractive enough pitch for Paul, who wanted not only to chase a first championship in his 21st season, but to do so while living in the same city as his wife and children for the first time since he last left the Clippers, in 2017.

“Tell you the truth, my wife and my kids probably tired of me already,” Paul said.

Paul spoke with a broad smile all afternoon Monday when talking about his return to the franchise. But before he could exit a reception celebrating his reunion, one of the estimated 650 fans who had packed a court inside Intuit Dome spoke up, catching his attention.

Sitting a few rows back from a raised stage where Paul sat, the fan told Paul what had been said about the team’s offseason moves: that the team’s roster now included so many older 30-or-older players that they were being called “uncs,” or uncles.

“I’m definitely an ‘unc,’” Paul said. “I think we got a great mix of young guys, older guys and whatnot. And it’s up to us to figure it out.”

As NBA teams chase youth in the quest for a title, this team is trying the opposite approach originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Last summer, Chris Paul was, like many Southern Californians, curious about the new Inglewood arena that the Los Angeles Clippers were only weeks away from opening.

Unlike most locals, however, Paul had been one of the best players in the NBA while playing for the Clippers from 2011-17. And although he was about to play for the San Antonio Spurs, he still knew well the new arena’s ultimate tour guide: Steve Ballmer, the Clippers’ owner, who showed the point guard around.

“I was like, ‘Damn, I wonder what the locker room looks like?’” Paul said.

One year later, Paul walked back into the locker room before his introduction Monday as the Clippers’ latest offseason signing and took note of the differences between his two eras playing for the franchise. New arena, new logo and this: During his first stint, he headlined a team of young, athletic upstarts challenging the league’s entrenched title contenders. Next season, the 40-year-old Paul and the Clippers will still be pursuing their first NBA championship — but this time behind aspirations that hinge on the NBA’s oldest roster.

“There’s a lot of gratitude or whatnot to still get a chance to play at this age,” Paul said.

The NBA has never been more of a young man’s league. Last season’s average age was 26.3 years, and tireless young legs propelled both Oklahoma City and Indiana to June’s NBA Finals. Oklahoma City made the finals with an average age of 25.6 years, the second-youngest team to reach the championship round in the previous 70 years. And when the Thunder won the championship, they were the youngest to do so since 1977.

After the Clippers’ last season ended in the first round, the team’s top basketball executive, Lawrence Frank, described adding youth and athleticism as a priority.

Yet the Clippers have since become one of the NBA’s most fascinating teams by eschewing such youth, betting that experience will give them a puncher’s chance.

The team expects to play a nine-man rotation, Frank said this month, but could credibly go 11 deep. The average age of those 11 is more than 33 years old, which Yahoo Sports determined would be a year older than the previous oldest roster in NBA history.

“What’s age? It’s just a number, right?” Frank joked with reporters earlier this month.

At 40, Paul might be an outlier as the NBA’s second-oldest active player, behind only LeBron James, but he fits right into an offseason that has seen the team sign 37-year-old center Brook Lopez, retain 37-year-old do-everything forward Nicolas Batum, re-sign 36-year-old guard James Harden and sign 32-year-old former All-Star guard Bradley Beal. Of the team’s 11 players who are largely expected to earn regular playing time, just three — Ivica Zubac, Derrick Jones Jr. and offseason acquisition John Collins, all of whom will be 28 when the season begins — are under 30.

“The goal is to get this team as good as we possibly can get it, regardless of age, and everyone’s entitled to the judgments they want to make on the group,” Frank said last week, after the signing of Paul. “We’re super excited about the group. I think part of the things that, with age, typically, people worry about [is] increased chance for injury. That’s why we lean into the depth.”

The Clippers, clearly, see their experience as a strength. Yet there is a reason only the 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks (31.6 years) and 1997-98 Chicago Bulls (32.1 years) have won NBA titles with an average age older than 31. Deep playoff runs require skill, which the Clippers undoubtedly possess, but also durability and stamina, and no one can foresee what next season holds for Beal, who has played 196 out of a possible 328 games his past four seasons, or Kawhi Leonard, who has played 157.

Yet when asked about the team’s age, Frank immediately recited that Paul and Lopez, the Clippers’ oldest players, had started a combined 162 out of 164 possible games just last season.

“So it’s not like these guys were productive three years ago, or four years ago, they were productive players last year,” Frank said.

The Clippers aren’t the only contender to believe it needed more seasoning. Houston was one of last season’s biggest success stories, producing the Western Conference’s second-best record despite owning the league’s ninth-youngest roster, with an average age, by minutes played, of 25.2. Yet after losing in the playoffs’ first round, Houston decided it needed Kevin Durant, who’ll turn 37 before the season starts, to realize its potential.

Going old in a league that skews young wasn’t the Clippers’ master plan. In the short term, and by Frank’s admission, landing Lopez as a free agent was no guarantee, Beal wasn’t initially expected to be available — becoming a free agent only after Phoenix bought his contract to the tune of $96 million — and signing Paul required the starter for virtually his entire two-decade career to accept a role as a reserve. The Clippers made those moves, ultimately, because they allowed the team to improve, regardless of age, while still being “disciplined to our plan,” Frank said.

That long-term plan, as rival executives view it, has seen the team unwilling to extend pricey contracts past 2026, a priority that will wipe clean virtually the Clippers’ entire current payroll within two seasons. It’s just the type of blank slate, in an attractive market like Los Angeles, that might woo a disgruntled star seeking a trade, or a big-name free agent.

Most teams would clear their books and transition for the future by filling the team with low-cost, younger players. Yet the Clippers have not begun a youth movement for a variety of reasons. One is resources: A 2019 trade with Oklahoma City hamstrung the number of available first-round picks the Clippers could use to theoretically rebuild their roster through the draft. As a workaround, the Clippers have tried giving second chances to young, talented players who had burned through their welcome with previous teams for either on-court or legal reasons, yet none has panned out.

Philosophy has also been a significant factor in why the Clippers have owned the league’s oldest roster each of the past three seasons. Ballmer, the owner and former Microsoft chief executive, does not believe that building a roster to intentionally lose its way to a top draft pick is good for business, or retaining fans in a city already saturated by its rival.

“Each year we are going to put the best possible team we can, while staying disciplined to our plan, to give ourselves and give our team and give our fans the best possible experience of a team that’s trying to compete at the highest level,” Frank said.

That was an attractive enough pitch for Paul, who wanted not only to chase a first championship in his 21st season, but to do so while living in the same city as his wife and children for the first time since he last left the Clippers, in 2017.

“Tell you the truth, my wife and my kids probably tired of me already,” Paul said.

Paul spoke with a broad smile all afternoon Monday when talking about his return to the franchise. But before he could exit a reception celebrating his reunion, one of the estimated 650 fans who had packed a court inside Intuit Dome spoke up, catching his attention.

Sitting a few rows back from a raised stage where Paul sat, the fan told Paul what had been said about the team’s offseason moves: that the team’s roster now included so many older 30-or-older players that they were being called “uncs,” or uncles.

“I’m definitely an ‘unc,’” Paul said. “I think we got a great mix of young guys, older guys and whatnot. And it’s up to us to figure it out.”

As NBA teams chase youth in the quest for a title, this team is trying the opposite approach originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Last summer, Chris Paul was, like many Southern Californians, curious about the new Inglewood arena that the Los Angeles Clippers were only weeks away from opening.

Unlike most locals, however, Paul had been one of the best players in the NBA while playing for the Clippers from 2011-17. And although he was about to play for the San Antonio Spurs, he still knew well the new arena’s ultimate tour guide: Steve Ballmer, the Clippers’ owner, who showed the point guard around.

“I was like, ‘Damn, I wonder what the locker room looks like?’” Paul said.

One year later, Paul walked back into the locker room before his introduction Monday as the Clippers’ latest offseason signing and took note of the differences between his two eras playing for the franchise. New arena, new logo and this: During his first stint, he headlined a team of young, athletic upstarts challenging the league’s entrenched title contenders. Next season, the 40-year-old Paul and the Clippers will still be pursuing their first NBA championship — but this time behind aspirations that hinge on the NBA’s oldest roster.

“There’s a lot of gratitude or whatnot to still get a chance to play at this age,” Paul said.

The NBA has never been more of a young man’s league. Last season’s average age was 26.3 years, and tireless young legs propelled both Oklahoma City and Indiana to June’s NBA Finals. Oklahoma City made the finals with an average age of 25.6 years, the second-youngest team to reach the championship round in the previous 70 years. And when the Thunder won the championship, they were the youngest to do so since 1977.

After the Clippers’ last season ended in the first round, the team’s top basketball executive, Lawrence Frank, described adding youth and athleticism as a priority.

Yet the Clippers have since become one of the NBA’s most fascinating teams by eschewing such youth, betting that experience will give them a puncher’s chance.

The team expects to play a nine-man rotation, Frank said this month, but could credibly go 11 deep. The average age of those 11 is more than 33 years old, which Yahoo Sports determined would be a year older than the previous oldest roster in NBA history.

“What’s age? It’s just a number, right?” Frank joked with reporters earlier this month.

At 40, Paul might be an outlier as the NBA’s second-oldest active player, behind only LeBron James, but he fits right into an offseason that has seen the team sign 37-year-old center Brook Lopez, retain 37-year-old do-everything forward Nicolas Batum, re-sign 36-year-old guard James Harden and sign 32-year-old former All-Star guard Bradley Beal. Of the team’s 11 players who are largely expected to earn regular playing time, just three — Ivica Zubac, Derrick Jones Jr. and offseason acquisition John Collins, all of whom will be 28 when the season begins — are under 30.

“The goal is to get this team as good as we possibly can get it, regardless of age, and everyone’s entitled to the judgments they want to make on the group,” Frank said last week, after the signing of Paul. “We’re super excited about the group. I think part of the things that, with age, typically, people worry about [is] increased chance for injury. That’s why we lean into the depth.”

The Clippers, clearly, see their experience as a strength. Yet there is a reason only the 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks (31.6 years) and 1997-98 Chicago Bulls (32.1 years) have won NBA titles with an average age older than 31. Deep playoff runs require skill, which the Clippers undoubtedly possess, but also durability and stamina, and no one can foresee what next season holds for Beal, who has played 196 out of a possible 328 games his past four seasons, or Kawhi Leonard, who has played 157.

Yet when asked about the team’s age, Frank immediately recited that Paul and Lopez, the Clippers’ oldest players, had started a combined 162 out of 164 possible games just last season.

“So it’s not like these guys were productive three years ago, or four years ago, they were productive players last year,” Frank said.

The Clippers aren’t the only contender to believe it needed more seasoning. Houston was one of last season’s biggest success stories, producing the Western Conference’s second-best record despite owning the league’s ninth-youngest roster, with an average age, by minutes played, of 25.2. Yet after losing in the playoffs’ first round, Houston decided it needed Kevin Durant, who’ll turn 37 before the season starts, to realize its potential.

Going old in a league that skews young wasn’t the Clippers’ master plan. In the short term, and by Frank’s admission, landing Lopez as a free agent was no guarantee, Beal wasn’t initially expected to be available — becoming a free agent only after Phoenix bought his contract to the tune of $96 million — and signing Paul required the starter for virtually his entire two-decade career to accept a role as a reserve. The Clippers made those moves, ultimately, because they allowed the team to improve, regardless of age, while still being “disciplined to our plan,” Frank said.

That long-term plan, as rival executives view it, has seen the team unwilling to extend pricey contracts past 2026, a priority that will wipe clean virtually the Clippers’ entire current payroll within two seasons. It’s just the type of blank slate, in an attractive market like Los Angeles, that might woo a disgruntled star seeking a trade, or a big-name free agent.

Most teams would clear their books and transition for the future by filling the team with low-cost, younger players. Yet the Clippers have not begun a youth movement for a variety of reasons. One is resources: A 2019 trade with Oklahoma City hamstrung the number of available first-round picks the Clippers could use to theoretically rebuild their roster through the draft. As a workaround, the Clippers have tried giving second chances to young, talented players who had burned through their welcome with previous teams for either on-court or legal reasons, yet none has panned out.

Philosophy has also been a significant factor in why the Clippers have owned the league’s oldest roster each of the past three seasons. Ballmer, the owner and former Microsoft chief executive, does not believe that building a roster to intentionally lose its way to a top draft pick is good for business, or retaining fans in a city already saturated by its rival.

“Each year we are going to put the best possible team we can, while staying disciplined to our plan, to give ourselves and give our team and give our fans the best possible experience of a team that’s trying to compete at the highest level,” Frank said.

That was an attractive enough pitch for Paul, who wanted not only to chase a first championship in his 21st season, but to do so while living in the same city as his wife and children for the first time since he last left the Clippers, in 2017.

“Tell you the truth, my wife and my kids probably tired of me already,” Paul said.

Paul spoke with a broad smile all afternoon Monday when talking about his return to the franchise. But before he could exit a reception celebrating his reunion, one of the estimated 650 fans who had packed a court inside Intuit Dome spoke up, catching his attention.

Sitting a few rows back from a raised stage where Paul sat, the fan told Paul what had been said about the team’s offseason moves: that the team’s roster now included so many older 30-or-older players that they were being called “uncs,” or uncles.

“I’m definitely an ‘unc,’” Paul said. “I think we got a great mix of young guys, older guys and whatnot. And it’s up to us to figure it out.”

Warriors ‘f–ked' if Jonathan Kuminga accepts qualifying offer, per NBA exec originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

As the Jonathan Kuminga standstill continues, there is one outcome the Warriors might want to avoid.

While the young forward is in no rush to accept any of Golden State’s contract offers, which reportedly have been in the two-year, $40-million range, there is one offer that, if Kuminga accepts, could hinder the Warriors long-term, as one anonymous NBA executive explained to The Athletic’s Fred Katz.

“If he takes the qualifying offer, the Warriors are f–ked from a team-building standpoint, because they need to get him on a deal where they can trade him,” the executive told Katz. “That’s the key for them.”

The Warriors offered Kuminga, a restricted free agent, the one-year, $7.9 million qualifying offer on June 28, and although the 22-year-old is seeking a deal that pays him much more annually and long-term, accepting the qualifying offer would allow Kuminga to play out the 2025-26 NBA season with the Warriors before becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer, when his market could be much more robust.

If the Warriors were to sign Kuminga this offseason, it benefits them to lock up the young forward to a deal worth much more than the $7.9-million qualifying offer figure so they are able to match contracts in a potential trade for an impact player next season, if they choose to include him in a package.

However, for Kuminga, taking the modest one-year deal this summer might end up being a viable option as his already limited market does not appear to be shaping up how he, or the Warriors, had hoped.

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What Warriors reportedly have offered Jonathan Kuminga in restricted free agency originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors are not ready to let restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga leave for cheap.

While Kuminga’s camp is seeking sign-and-trade opportunities for the 22-year-old, Golden State is looking for a first-round draft pick in any potential trade, NBA Insider Marc Stein reported Monday.

“Kuminga’s camp has continued to seek out sign-and-trade opportunities, with Sacramento and Phoenix still regarded as the most determined suitors, but Golden State is said to want a first-round pick in any sign-and-trade deal,” Stein wrote in his latest Substack. “The Suns do not have an available first-round pick to offer.”

Additionally, the Warriors have continued to try to negotiate with Kuminga and his camp on a new contract, per Stein.

“Word is that the Warriors’ best offers to Kuminga have topped out in the two-year, $40 million range,” Stein wrote.

Kuminga is coming off a 2024-25 NBA season where he averaged 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in 47 contests played. An ankle injury kept the forward out from early January until the middle of March.

Kuminga also struggled for consistent playing time once he returned to the lineup and even was a DNP in the team’s final regular-season game. He also was a DNP in two of the team’s first-round NBA playoff games against the Houston Rockets.

The seventh overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft found the court consistently in the team’s second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, as injuries to other stars opened minutes up for him.

Kuminga finished that series averaging 20.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game in 27.4 minutes per game.

Where this saga will turn next, nobody knows, but it seems Golden State will only let Kuminga go for the right price.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Luka Doncic is a changed man.

Just look at the photos accompanying a new "Men's Health" feature on the Lakers superstar.

He's slimmed down. He's toned.

“Just visually, I would say my whole body looks better,” Doncic said in the article published Monday.

His altered physique, however, is not what makes Doncic a changed man. His sleek new look is the result of much bigger changes in his lifestyle this offseason.

Read more:Luka Doncic made Marcus Smart a believer in joining the Lakers

According to the article, Doncic has been home in Croatia where he gets in two 90-minute workouts a day. The sessions included deadlifts, dumbbell bench presses, lateral bounds, resistance band drills, sprints and hurdles. The workouts wrap up with Doncic on the basketball court shooting jump shots.

And Doncic's eating habits have changed too. His diet is now gluten-free, low-sugar and high-protein. He also uses an intermittent fasting plan the article says is "designed to limit inflammation and help his body recover better."

The Mavericks selected Doncic with the third overall pick in the 2018 draft. He was the NBA's rookie of the year that season. The 6-6 guard is a five-time All-Star selection and led the Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals.

But in early February, Doncic was shipped to the Lakers in a deal that sent Anthony Davis to Dallas. According to an ESPN report at the time, the Mavericks initiated the talks at least in part because of “significant frustration within the organization about Doncic’s lack of discipline regarding his diet and conditioning.”

Read more:Is Luka Doncic 230 or 260 pounds? Magic Johnson says new Laker must take 'conditioning seriously'

Doncic acknowledged that narrative during his introductory news conference with the Lakers on Feb. 4 and said it would motivate him moving forward.

“It’s a motive,” Doncic said. “I know it’s not true. I know. But it’s a motive … it’s a big motive for a long run here.”

Apparently, he meant it. The day after the Lakers were eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs, the Men's Health article states, Doncic texted his manager saying he was ready to begin his offseason workouts.

Doncic has worked with the same trio of fitness experts — a physiotherapist, a trainer and a nutritionist — since 2023, but this offseason has been different.

“I think that this summer, he sees the difference, and he's really happy,” Javier Barrio, Doncic's physiotherapist, told Men's Health.

Doncic indicated that his newfound dedication to wellness won't end once the season begins.

“This year, with my team, I think we did a huge step," he said. "But this is just the start, you know. I need to keep going. Can’t stop.”

He added: “If I stop now, it was all for nothing.”

Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Luka Doncic is a changed man.

Just look at the photos accompanying a new "Men's Health" feature on the Lakers superstar.

He's slimmed down. He's toned.

“Just visually, I would say my whole body looks better,” Doncic said in the article published Monday.

His altered physique, however, is not what makes Doncic a changed man. His sleek new look is the result of much bigger changes in his lifestyle this offseason.

Read more:Luka Doncic made Marcus Smart a believer in joining the Lakers

According to the article, Doncic has been home in Croatia where he gets in two 90-minute workouts a day. The sessions included deadlifts, dumbbell bench presses, lateral bounds, resistance band drills, sprints and hurdles. The workouts wrap up with Doncic on the basketball court shooting jump shots.

And Doncic's eating habits have changed too. His diet is now gluten-free, low-sugar and high-protein. He also uses an intermittent fasting plan the article says is "designed to limit inflammation and help his body recover better."

The Mavericks selected Doncic with the third overall pick in the 2018 draft. He was the NBA's rookie of the year that season. The 6-6 guard is a five-time All-Star selection and led the Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals.

But in early February, Doncic was shipped to the Lakers in a deal that sent Anthony Davis to Dallas. According to an ESPN report at the time, the Mavericks initiated the talks at least in part because of “significant frustration within the organization about Doncic’s lack of discipline regarding his diet and conditioning.”

Read more:Is Luka Doncic 230 or 260 pounds? Magic Johnson says new Laker must take 'conditioning seriously'

Doncic acknowledged that narrative during his introductory news conference with the Lakers on Feb. 4 and said it would motivate him moving forward.

“It’s a motive,” Doncic said. “I know it’s not true. I know. But it’s a motive … it’s a big motive for a long run here.”

Apparently, he meant it. The day after the Lakers were eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs, the Men's Health article states, Doncic texted his manager saying he was ready to begin his offseason workouts.

Doncic has worked with the same trio of fitness experts — a physiotherapist, a trainer and a nutritionist — since 2023, but this offseason has been different.

“I think that this summer, he sees the difference, and he's really happy,” Javier Barrio, Doncic's physiotherapist, told Men's Health.

Doncic indicated that his newfound dedication to wellness won't end once the season begins.

“This year, with my team, I think we did a huge step," he said. "But this is just the start, you know. I need to keep going. Can’t stop.”

He added: “If I stop now, it was all for nothing.”

Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Former NBA player Marcus Morris Sr. was arrested Sunday at a Florida airport on a warrant out of Nevada and is facing a fraud charge, the Broward County Sheriff's Office confirmed to The Times.

According to the booking report, Morris was picked up at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for the felony of writing a check with insufficient funds. He was held without bond at the Broward County main jail and had an extradition hearing scheduled for Monday, according to the county's Clerk of Courts website.

Morris' twin brother, fellow veteran NBA player Markieff Morris, suggested Sunday on X (fomerly Twitter) that the situation had been overblown and that his brother would have more to say on the matter shortly.

"The wording is crazy," wrote Markieff Morris, who played a handful of games with the Lakers last season after being acquired from the Dallas Mavericks in the trade that brought Luka Doncic to L.A.

"Damn for that amount of money they’ll embarrass you in the airport with your family. They got y’all really thinking bro did some fraud s—. They could have came to the crib for all that. When y’all hear the real story on this s— man. All I can say is Lesson learned. Bro will tell y’all tomorrow."

Read more:Ex-USC star Jordan Addison, found asleep at the wheel of a Rolls, won’t get jail time in DUI case

Agent Tony Noy, who represents both Morris brothers with the LAA Partners investment management firm, reposted Markieff Morris' post and indicated that the charge against Marcus Morris stemmed from "an outstanding marker with a casino."

"Just so everyone understands this is zero fraud here or whatever crap outlets have said regarding fake checks or whatever the hell," Noy wrote. "This is due to an outstanding marker with a casino. Apparently if you have over $1,200 they can issue a warrant for your arrest. Absolute insanity!"

Noy did not immediately respond to messages from The Times.

Marcus Morris played 11 years in the NBA, including four seasons with the Clippers (2019-2023). He also spent time with the Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets and New York Knicks and last played for the Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2023-24 season.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.