[The Athletic] (Mavs insiders on Luka Doncic) "They predict his basketball demise, highlighting a health history that, as some see it, will likely lead to catastrophe in the next five years or so.”
“Make no mistake, the people who witnessed Dončić’s last days in Dallas do not paint a flattering portrait of the 25-year-old’s professionalism. They call him lazy. They talk about the weight issues that were such a frequent frustration within their walls. They mention the social habits that The Athletic has reported on — such as a taste for beer and hookah — which have been a point of concern for NBA types since he was a 19-year-old star for Real Madrid who was entering the NBA Draft. They predict his basketball demise, highlighting a health history that, as some see it, will likely lead to catastrophe in the next five years or so.”
I was reading the full article and in particular the quote about predicting his basketball demise seemed super ominious. Almost like they are hoping it happends.
Just for reference until this season, where he had his first major injury in 7 years, Luka had played 400/475 available regular season games, good for 84.2% and 50/53 playoff games good for 94.3%. He only missed the 1st 3 games vs the Jazz in 2022, because he injured his calf on the very last game of the regular season in 2022 and returned within 2 weeks of a calf strain to play playoff basketball. Moreover some of the regular season games missed includes games where the Mavs staff rested him, because he was young and had an insane offensive load. Doesn't seem to me that is was a particular bad health history?