GAME 36: DAL (18-18) @ OKC (13-23) | 95-86 win

[burekemde]

I don't remember it that way. There was no talk about it in the preseason, when Mavs went on that 4-0 run. On the contrary, we can find many "this season will be awesome takes" with "Luka in best shape and KP with full summer of preparation". It started with bad Mavs plays and the more they were losing the more it was increasing. It culminated with McMahon piece a month or so ago. Than the commentators have been on it.

Agree it all completely grew after Luka getting injured and started/kept limping in the next games. Thats where majority of the talk started. There was only a little talk pre-injury but this amounts to ike 1% of the amount that arrived after the limping. Both on this site, but also in the media etc. Not a myth at all.

We should be able to all agree that he looks and moves normal from yesterdays game.

[Kammrath]

After game one (first game of the season of real action!) against ATL this season I had a whole list of game observations. Here is observation number one from October 21, 2021:

Luka is overweight and looks a step slow. Not as bad as the first part of last year, but not in good enough shape. I am becoming seriously concerned about his long term weight. He is the tide that lifts all boats. Without elite Luka (and he MUST be in shape for that) this team will only be average.

[fifteenth]

I don't remember it that way. There was no talk about it in the preseason, when Mavs went on that 4-0 run. On the contrary, we can find many "this season will be awesome takes" with "Luka in best shape and KP with full summer of preparation". It started with bad Mavs plays and the more they were losing the more it was increasing. It culminated with McMahon piece a month or so ago. Than the commentators have been on it.

Why don't we have a look at some quotes from the DAL wins prediction thread (no one had anything to say about Luka being fat):

Mavsfan12: Doncic is in shape and ready to slay.

ThisIsTheYear: These guys look good, fit, and deep and they have the second best player in the NBA.

Fifteenth also seemed to be enthusiastic at the time: Luka now should be better than Luka past (not necessarily related to weight though)

It's not hard to find quotes where I'm positive!!    I pretty much default to hope, and don't start chriping about what's wrong until it's pretty clear to me. 

Anyway, it's probably easy to find takes that skew in many different directions in all the threads. But I think Luka's weight was a topic really early on. 

This is a pretty silly rabbit hole, but now I want to go look...

[burekemde]

After game one (first game of the season of real action!) against ATL this season I had a whole list of game observations. Here is observation number one from October 21, 2021:

I remember you mentioning this at the time, and one or two others posters, and that's it, most others believed he looked in great shape as well as did the media, nobody else mentioned this. Then after Luka started limping after his injury and team started losing the great record, all of sudden the media and many others mentioning he is fat. Now all of sudden he looks normal back again. To me this speaks volumes about that this is a clear case abouy peoples perception based on other parameters (limping/injury and team performance wins/losses) rather than something visual and valid. People link different parameters that are not linked inherently and correlated, this is perception.

Even if fat, which he is not, it's about performance and not about body. it's not about the body or colour or anything like that. It's about production. I would said the same to people that evaluated Bane wrongly based on his show wingspan. It doesnt matter, he can play and will be able to play well in the NBA, i dont care if his arms were twice shorter than what they are currently. 

I think not only fans of the NBA, but also coaches in the NBA need to be a lot better recognizing skill rather than focusing all attention on the visual attributes. Another example is the fat Jokic the MVP.

[fifteenth]

Ha ha! Look at this post from October...

https://www.mavsboard.com/showthread.php?tid=9&pid=109818#pid109818

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I remember you mentioning this at the time, and one or two others posters, and that's it, most others believed he looked in great shape as well as did the media, nobody else mentioned this.

I don't remember anyone mentioning he was in great shape. I mean, we had already talked about him being out of shape at the start of last season as well. "Luka plays himself into shape" isn't new.

[fifteenth]

Even if fat, which he is not, it's about performance and not about body. it's not about the body or colour or anything like that.

"Fat" for an NBA player is different than you or me being overweight. And an athlete's body impacts his performance. Not just that, but the ability to take care of one's self, in the NBA, impacts longevity and length of prime. We've been watching this kind of thing in the NBA for a long time. 

Like I said burekemde, we love Luka too. The conversaton is about all of us wanting Luka to be an all time great, not just a perennial all-star with a short prime.

[Kammrath]

Ha ha! Look at this post from October...

Why would take me back to that thread and all the posts that ensued that almost caused me to walk away from this board completely?? Do you hate me THAT much??

[Kammrath]

we love Luka too

I love him too much I think....that's why I am so frustrated by the whole thing.

[fifteenth]

Why would take me back to that thread and all the posts that ensued that almost caused me to walk away from this board completely?? Do you hate me THAT much??

Ooops!!! I didn't read past that post!!!!!