The fallout from the Luka Doncic trade continued on Tuesday. Mavericks players have weighed in, opposing players have weighed in. Now some of the bigger-named studio analysts, who have had two days to formulate their opinions, are sharing their thoughts.
Before the Luka-less Mavericks tipped off for their game against the 76ers, NBA on TNT co-host and basketball Hall of Famer (and longtime Laker) Shaquille O’Neal took some issue with reports that Nico Harrison and the Mavericks have been frustrated with the 25-year-old’s weight and conditioning, a possible factor that led to the out-of-nowhere deal to Los Angeles.
“He doesn’t look out of shape to me,” O’Neal said during Tuesday night’s broadcast. “I need to know what the term — when you say ‘out of shape,’ is he fat? Does he have a six-pack? Are we talking body fat? Because one of my best friends just told me, ‘Fat Luka is better than 99.9% of all the guards in the game.’
“So, In-Shape Luka? Five years First-Team All-NBA. Fat Luka, Out-of-Shape Luka? First-Team All-NBA, five years. So…
“If that’s [why] they let him go? I definitely gotta blame management, because there’s better ways to handle that.”
“Fat Luka is better than 99.9% of all guards in the league”
Shaq on what a friend told him regarding the conditioning reports around Luka 😅 pic.twitter.com/SPdKduZSrU
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 5, 2025
O’Neal, who won four championships over his legendary career, including three in back-to-back-to-back years with the Lakers, was no stranger to weight criticism during his playing days. The 3-time Finals MVP never played an NBA game under 300 pounds, listed at 301 as a 20-year-old rookie with the 1992-93 Magic.
“I wish the business of basketball could’ve been handled a little better. You’d think a guy, five All-NBAs, would at least get the conversation, ‘Hey, things aren’t going well, this could actually happen,’… I would’ve liked to seen it done a little more professionally.”
That being said — O’Neal says he believes the Mavericks are the winners of the trade, at least for the next two seasons.
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