According to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Luka Doncic took criticism of his weight to heart at the start of this NBA season and has been "unstoppable" ever since.
For the second season running, Doncic was the Precision MVP favorite; For the ongoing second season, Mavs Superstar was accused of being out of work.
Doncic himself admitted that he "probably" rested "too much" after leading Slovenia in a sensational deep run at the Tokyo Olympics.
The 22-year-old vowed to "quit" and "do better" and has done exactly that - reportedly now at the same weight as his rookie year.
The Mavs were up 17-18 by the end of December, with Doncic leading only 21 games and averaging 25.6 points, 8.5 assists, 8.0 rebounds and plus/minus -4.0.
In 2022, the team is 18-6, with 29.3 points, 9.4 assists and 10.3 rebounds per game as well as a plus/minus of 9.1 as their main man. He hasn't missed a single match since January 7.
In this calendar year, Doncic is third for total points (674), second for total assists (217) and sixth for total rebounds (236) – a response, Cuba suggests, of the opening season. for criticism.
"I think he was a little polite," Cuban told The Ticket. "I guess he didn't like to be called out for his weight and other things, and it finally clicked that a level of discipline is necessary.
“All athletes at his level go through this at some stage, where things are easier and you are used to always being the best and you are used to always getting all the praise.
"Then when something doesn't go as expected, it makes you reconsider.
"He knows what he needs to do, and it clicked in the end that if he's going to be the best — and I know he wants to be the best — there are some things he has to control.
"Once he's in control of those things, he's just 'Katie, bar the door.' He's just been unstoppable."