Don Lukai hasn't taken a day off since the Dallas Mavericks were eliminated by the Golden State Warriors. The person who scored 28 points in the elimination game is not playing for the national team.
On Saturday, Italy was playing a friendly against Slovenia. Doni had 12 points, five assists, and seven rebound in the win. His performance was not the focus of the game. In the story, Doni looks like his diet has consisted of nothing but pure protein and he has been lifting weights for 30 days.
There are two major issues with Doni. His defense and conditioning are what they're called. Doni was out of shape when he showed up to the Mavericks training camp in late September after the Olympics. He admitted in December that he needed to do better and that it took him about a month to get into NBA basketball shape.
It appears that he has had the most successful month of conditioning in the history of professional sports. That picture is in a promotional packet. As he heads to the bench after a few minutes on the court, the light is hitting him. If I worked in the Mavericks ticket office, that picture would be on everything I send out to season ticket holders and people who bought single-game tickets to try and get them to buy larger packages.
Doni is in better shape, but he doesn't have enough time to slim down and add muscle. His face and arms look smaller in other pictures. He is leaner than he was during the NBA season, but he is still not built like a teacher.
He is leaner than he was during the season, and he looks different than he did during the Olympics. In the gold medal game, he was far from out of shape, leading to Nicolas Batum blocking the US from playing. Doni's face looked different than it did a month later when he was reported to be 260 pounds.
Doni has been in the NBA for five seasons. He tasted playoff victory for the first time, and maybe that is what he needs to take another major step forward as one of the best players in the league, even though he had a rough start to the season. As good as he is, NBA talent can only take a player to a certain point if they are willing to work hard. In the NBA playoffs, Stephen Curry showed what a good conditioning program can do. He transformed his body from being unable to hold a basketball jersey on his shoulders to being able to hold his own on defense. Curry is able to bury 3-pointers late in games, late in the season, and later in his career.
The transition from great to all-time great is something all players have to go through. Let's see what Doni looks like in September.
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