Mavs have a leadership problem | Cuban and Harlabob argue on Twitter

[mavsluvr]

I don't think anyone is really excusing or breezing past the Mavs woes as an organization but that doesn't excuse Luka's easily correctable shortcomings.  If you sign a supermax I'm going to expect you to come into the season in shape.

That is theoretically logical, but in fact, some max players do report in less than peak condition, as a real life matter. Heck, even Dirk has done it, and no one would mistake him for a slouch. 

One of the podcasts sourcing the Mavs organization addressed Luka's conditioning at some length. Their report was that the Mavs know that Luka is playing his way into top shape, but he's in pretty good shape already, and they don't regard his conditioning as a significant on-court issue. They could make a production out of making him lose a few pounds or spend another couple hours a day on conditioning, but they don't think it would make any difference to on-court results, so they would rather place their energies into what they regard as more urgent problems. 

Of course, we can disagree with the assessment, if we can point to some evidence that Luka's conditioning is affecting wins and losses. (There was a time, for example, when he was red-faced and visibly huffing and puffing at the ends of games, but that's not the case any more. For another example, Luka admitted to being "tired" last night, for whatever reason, and maybe that's something to latch onto.) But, assuming that their assessment is more or less correct, are we saying that Luka should be forced to lose weight/work out more for the sake of setting an example, even though it's not going to make a difference on the court?

I believe it was the same pod that said there are really only three Mavs who keep themselves in tiptop shape as a matter of course -- Dorian, Hardaway, and Powell. The others, including Luka, stay in excellent shape compared to the average person, and then work themselves into game shape as needed. I don't think this is unique to the Mavs. 

None of this is to excuse Luka or anyone else from his responsibilities, but sometimes I think some of the fans (Twitter, mostly, not members of this august board) are knee-jerking over what may not be a very high-impact issue in the big picture. "Luka isn't in top shape. OMG! Nuclear alert! Defcon 1!" When if we  look past the issue to its impact and possible solutions, it's maybe #76 on the list of the top 100 problems. (Not saying you or anyone else on this forum is guilty of this, of course. Just a broad-ranging comment on casual sports fans, really.) And the conditioning is just an example. The other deficiencies perceived in Luka and others are all subject to the same analysis -- to what extent is this causing a functional problem, and if it is a material problem, what is the right solution? (Maybe blowing it up or sending Luka to Slovenia to do penance is the right answer, or maybe it isn't.)