Is Luka overrated?

[tbhawksfan1]

Luka has some issues. Needs to be in much better shape and with him that clearly starts with nutrition. Needs to take higher percentage off ball 3s and play some D

I can see him thriving on a moderately talented team built around him though.

Something like

Clint Capela C: Rim running solid D
Lauri Markkanen PF: Floor streaching, scoring PF
DeAndre Hunter SF: 3 & D
Luka
Delon Wright: Defensive, pass first PG with decent low volume 3

Not super talented, but a team with Luka constructed like this should win a lot

[_NoMas]

If only that Trae/ Luka swap never happened. I’d quite like to see how the Hawks would get on with Luka, Dejounte, Hunter, Collins, Capela… that’s a solid 5 out with enough defence, size and shooting around Luka for them to be a threat in the east

[Village Idiot]

idk but he and Dallas have singlehandedly ruined my parlays like 5 times now

I'll bet you can't stop betting

[dhsilv2]

Better question is how do you gain weight like Luka has while season is going on. He clearly was slimer at the start of the year

Pretty sure Jokic suffers from the same thing

Depends on your metabolism and the ankle and heel injury didn't help... plus idk his diet day to day that's a factor too.

Outside of a health issue...these guys are clearly not eating that well, lol. And I don't buy for a second they have any health issues. Sure some guys can get away with eating like crap, but nobody is gaining flab in season eating chicken and broccoli for example.

[dhsilv2]

The frustrating thing about Luka is that he can address all of his short comings if he wants to. He chooses not.

I'm sadly less and less sure about the fitness issue, i'm beginning to think that his genetics are so bad in term of athleticism that he has to do superhuman work outs just in order to be in normal NBA point guard shape.

I wish my genetics were so bad I just had elite eye hand coordination, the strongest legs maybe in the entire NBA, and top 1% deceleration. I must suck to only be elite athletically in 3 critical areas but not in all of them...

[dhsilv2]

As someone in the gym regularly I don’t get it- it’s like Luka doesn’t do any cardio EXCEPT on the court -

How is it possible that a pro athlete who is better at lower weight isn’t in a constant caloric deficit when overweight and dialed in to the point of perfect homeostasis when he is at ideal weight is beyond me.

Lukas conditioning is a mystery and is something the Mavs have failed to get right for years.

and for the guys that don’t train Regularly- don’t respond with “everyone is different” BS… I know that -

but the rules are the same for every human- to lose weight- you simply burn more calories than you consume… full stop - no magic - no super science- it’s so easy to understand that it baffles me that people think it’s anything other than that.

The question with Luka is, does he care about his weight enough to be in prime shape or is he still so young and dumb and full of C- onfidence that the thinks he is going to be the best version of himself without actually becoming a physical specimen

The obvious answer would be that his diet is terrible.

It just doesn’t seem possible for his diet to be that bad -

For all we knew he drinks a 24 pack a night. A guy his size and age, that isn't THAT crazy to imagine. I worked with a guy back in my early 20's who was an elite power lifter, similar age to me at the time. He ended up in rehab due to his drinking a 1.75 of vodka a day, and never missed a workout and kept getting strong. But he never looked remotely like a guy pulling 800+. He was not that classic "fat but round fat" power lifter. he legit was sloppy fat in places. He came back from that and was night and day different looking. No other changes...

[CobraCommander]

The obvious answer would be that his diet is terrible.

It just doesn’t seem possible for his diet to be that bad -

For all we knew he drinks a 24 pack a night. A guy his size and age, that isn't THAT crazy to imagine. I worked with a guy back in my early 20's who was an elite power lifter, similar age to me at the time. He ended up in rehab due to his drinking a 1.75 of vodka a day, and never missed a workout and kept getting strong. But he never looked remotely like a guy pulling 800+. He was not that classic "fat but round fat" power lifter. he legit was sloppy fat in places. He came back from that and was night and day different looking. No other changes...

So you gonna just elude to the fact that you lift?

Pulling 800+ is strong as hell. Was he natty or was the rehab simply drinking and not for the other stuff that can go into powerlifting?

As for Luka - it’s just interesting that no one has had “the talk” about his body composition. I don’t believe Luka has bad “genetics” because I train as well and I have seen people with “bad genetics” put the work in (diet sleep exercise- some may do PEDs but not all) and change their athletic performance drastically in a year or 2. There is nothing stopping a 6’7” guy that moves as quickly as Luka while carrying 20-30% body fat from getting to like 8-12% and supercharging his athleticism. Zion needs his Size- I think Lukas weight is hurting him

[dhsilv2]

It just doesn’t seem possible for his diet to be that bad -

For all we knew he drinks a 24 pack a night. A guy his size and age, that isn't THAT crazy to imagine. I worked with a guy back in my early 20's who was an elite power lifter, similar age to me at the time. He ended up in rehab due to his drinking a 1.75 of vodka a day, and never missed a workout and kept getting strong. But he never looked remotely like a guy pulling 800+. He was not that classic "fat but round fat" power lifter. he legit was sloppy fat in places. He came back from that and was night and day different looking. No other changes...

So you gonna just elude to the fact that you lift?

Pulling 800+ is strong as hell. Was he natty or was the rehab simply drinking and not for the other stuff that can go into powerlifting?

As for Luka - it’s just interesting that no one has had “the talk” about his body composition. I don’t believe Luka has bad “genetics” because I train as well and I have seen people with “bad genetics” put the work in (diet sleep exercise- some may do PEDs but not all) and change their athletic performance drastically in a year or 2. There is nothing stopping a 6’7” guy that moves as quickly as Luka while carrying 20-30% body fat from getting to like 8-12% and supercharging his athleticism. Zion needs his Size- I think Lukas weight is hurting him

When I was in my 20's yeah, I trained with a few groups of power lifters/body builders. I wouldn't call myself a lifter now. I hit the gym maybe 5 times a month and on a good day, maybe I squat 365 for a rep or two. Hardly a lift now, just a fat guy, who tries to maintain a bit of strength. As for him, yeah he was competing at the Arnold Classic, he won a few strong man events without even training for it. He was a freak. No clue if he used anything else, but rehab was 100% for his alcoholism. Honestly, in many years and knowing a LOT of people who I know have used gear, I've never known anyone with serious side effects unless they got into more exotic stuff, and that's not really a discussion for this forum.

As for Luka, I'm sure he's got a VERY efficient metabolism and that's why he's able to hold and gain fat so easily. And I've know guys like that who ate pretty clean, would run marathons, and still held 20%+ body fat. The reality is that the gym is an insanely biased sample of the population. The number of people who keep working out consistently who struggle with weight gain or those who can never gain any real muscle is near 0 in the long term. The gym is a massively biased group of people who have fairly good genetics, at least the serious lifters. The older guys who just get on the tredmill even tend to be naturally fit and lean people. That said, if Luka wants to reach his potential, he'll have to start eating really healthy and track his calories. Most NBA guys at his age don't need to do that (even if they should). Luka, Jokic, and Zion do...

[og15]

Stats are overrated. Simple facts. Are they useful? Yes. Are they overrated? Yes. Luka is another James Harden type. Huge weakness in his game in defense.

Saying this from the start, but Luka fanboys don't like the Harden comparison and would dig out some advanced stat to make an argument he's not a bad defender. Anyway, great player while dominating the ball, but pretty weak when it comes to off ball play and defense.

He gave last year's 64-win Suns team the most embarrassing beatdown in NBA playoff history, so he's obviously doing something right. And the fact that he's already made it as far in the playoffs as Harden, Nash, and CP3 despite playing with a roster half as talented as any of those guys had bodes well for his future prospects. You haters are like vultures, just circling around and chomping at the bit for an opportunity to spew some hate.

I hate the rounds passed comparison in a general sense, but also, te Suns made the finals .

Every player needs the right team to go very far, Luka is young, he has time.

The frustrating thing about Luka is that he can address all of his short comings if he wants to. He chooses not.

I'm sadly less and less sure about the fitness issue, i'm beginning to think that his genetics are so bad in term of athleticism that he has to do superhuman work outs just in order to be in normal NBA point guard shape.

He was in shape in his rookie season and managed to play 72 games. That's about where he should be. He's gained about 20-30 lbs since then.

The big issue is that he hasn't been through a proper 12-week strength and conditioning program.

The bolded from the post this quotes is simply not true, and he would need to aim for SF shape, not PG, whatever difference that make.

He's definitely eating and/or drinking (not necessarily alcohol, just caloried drinks) too much. It's a lot easier to drink a lot of excess calories than eat them, so that could be more likely, but it doesn't matter which ones.

People like to try and complicate weight and fitness to something more than it is. We all have different body types, etc, but within that, unless you have some specific medical condition, the principles are the same, burn more than you intake.

Most people if they are to self report vastly underrate their calorie intake and also misunderstand how much harder it is to burn off those little additional calories they add. Which is also why most people don't think they are eating too many (usually empty) calories.

Luka has fun, maybe he likes to go home after games and eat and drink and enjoy life. Might not be ideal for him, but he's still extremely productive, though not maximized. Maintaining fitness through diet which would be the most important part can become a job in itself, maybe some guys don't want to feel like they are working at home also.

[CobraCommander]

For all we knew he drinks a 24 pack a night. A guy his size and age, that isn't THAT crazy to imagine. I worked with a guy back in my early 20's who was an elite power lifter, similar age to me at the time. He ended up in rehab due to his drinking a 1.75 of vodka a day, and never missed a workout and kept getting strong. But he never looked remotely like a guy pulling 800+. He was not that classic "fat but round fat" power lifter. he legit was sloppy fat in places. He came back from that and was night and day different looking. No other changes...

So you gonna just elude to the fact that you lift?

Pulling 800+ is strong as hell. Was he natty or was the rehab simply drinking and not for the other stuff that can go into powerlifting?

As for Luka - it’s just interesting that no one has had “the talk” about his body composition. I don’t believe Luka has bad “genetics” because I train as well and I have seen people with “bad genetics” put the work in (diet sleep exercise- some may do PEDs but not all) and change their athletic performance drastically in a year or 2. There is nothing stopping a 6’7” guy that moves as quickly as Luka while carrying 20-30% body fat from getting to like 8-12% and supercharging his athleticism. Zion needs his Size- I think Lukas weight is hurting him

When I was in my 20's yeah, I trained with a few groups of power lifters/body builders. I wouldn't call myself a lifter now. I hit the gym maybe 5 times a month and on a good day, maybe I squat 365 for a rep or two. Hardly a lift now, just a fat guy, who tries to maintain a bit of strength. As for him, yeah he was competing at the Arnold Classic, he won a few strong man events without even training for it. He was a freak. No clue if he used anything else, but rehab was 100% for his alcoholism. Honestly, in many years and knowing a LOT of people who I know have used gear, I've never known anyone with serious side effects unless they got into more exotic stuff, and that's not really a discussion for this forum.

As for Luka, I'm sure he's got a VERY efficient metabolism and that's why he's able to hold and gain fat so easily. And I've know guys like that who ate pretty clean, would run marathons, and still held 20%+ body fat. The reality is that the gym is an insanely biased sample of the population. The number of people who keep working out consistently who struggle with weight gain or those who can never gain any real muscle is near 0 in the long term. The gym is a massively biased group of people who have fairly good genetics, at least the serious lifters. The older guys who just get on the tredmill even tend to be naturally fit and lean people. That said, if Luka wants to reach his potential, he'll have to start eating really healthy and track his calories. Most NBA guys at his age don't need to do that (even if they should). Luka, Jokic, and Zion do...

Damn - I love the Arnold classic - 365 isn’t bad for a squat - I assume you are still in the 1000 club (bench, squat, Deadlift) and if not not far from it if you squat 365… and we all get fat at some point.

So here is the chicken or the egg question- do the old guys on the treadmill tend to be lean naturally or do they tend to be lean cause they hit the treadmill?

I ask that because I think when I was young all I did was lift, eat and hang out- I stayed relatively fit LOOKING but as I aged I had to do cardio to stay lean - but as an adult you don’t have enough hours in the day to seriously lift AND do 1 hour of Cardio everyday - which is what it kinda takes to be sub 10% for most humans

Either way - no excuse for Zion or Luka- I still hold out hope that a fit Luka can be great on both ends of the court. He has quick hands, and great feet, length and great anticipation. The put back in the 60 point game to send it to OT was one of the most athletic things I have ever seen. Now imagine Luka being able to move like that for the full game but not just in crunch time. Why not?

[Texas Chuck]

I'm going to say it is that hard to imagine Luka is drinking a case of beer a night. I get its the time to get the shots in at Luka, but cmon now man lol.

[dhsilv2]

So you gonna just elude to the fact that you lift?

Pulling 800+ is strong as hell. Was he natty or was the rehab simply drinking and not for the other stuff that can go into powerlifting?

As for Luka - it’s just interesting that no one has had “the talk” about his body composition. I don’t believe Luka has bad “genetics” because I train as well and I have seen people with “bad genetics” put the work in (diet sleep exercise- some may do PEDs but not all) and change their athletic performance drastically in a year or 2. There is nothing stopping a 6’7” guy that moves as quickly as Luka while carrying 20-30% body fat from getting to like 8-12% and supercharging his athleticism. Zion needs his Size- I think Lukas weight is hurting him

When I was in my 20's yeah, I trained with a few groups of power lifters/body builders. I wouldn't call myself a lifter now. I hit the gym maybe 5 times a month and on a good day, maybe I squat 365 for a rep or two. Hardly a lift now, just a fat guy, who tries to maintain a bit of strength. As for him, yeah he was competing at the Arnold Classic, he won a few strong man events without even training for it. He was a freak. No clue if he used anything else, but rehab was 100% for his alcoholism. Honestly, in many years and knowing a LOT of people who I know have used gear, I've never known anyone with serious side effects unless they got into more exotic stuff, and that's not really a discussion for this forum.

As for Luka, I'm sure he's got a VERY efficient metabolism and that's why he's able to hold and gain fat so easily. And I've know guys like that who ate pretty clean, would run marathons, and still held 20%+ body fat. The reality is that the gym is an insanely biased sample of the population. The number of people who keep working out consistently who struggle with weight gain or those who can never gain any real muscle is near 0 in the long term. The gym is a massively biased group of people who have fairly good genetics, at least the serious lifters. The older guys who just get on the tredmill even tend to be naturally fit and lean people. That said, if Luka wants to reach his potential, he'll have to start eating really healthy and track his calories. Most NBA guys at his age don't need to do that (even if they should). Luka, Jokic, and Zion do...

Damn - I love the Arnold classic - 365 isn’t bad for a squat - I assume you are still in the 1000 club (bench, squat, Deadlift) and if not not far from it if you squat 365… and we all get fat at some point.

So here is the chicken or the egg question- do the old guys on the treadmill tend to be lean naturally or do they tend to be lean cause they hit the treadmill?

I ask that because I think when I was young all I did was lift, eat and hang out- I stayed relatively fit LOOKING but as I aged I had to do cardio to stay lean - but as an adult you don’t have enough hours in the day to seriously lift AND do 1 hour of Cardio everyday - which is what it kinda takes to be sub 10% for most humans

Either way - no excuse for Zion or Luka- I still hold out hope that a fit Luka can be great on both ends of the court. He has quick hands, and great feet, length and great anticipation. The put back in the 60 point game to send it to OT was one of the most athletic things I have ever seen. Now imagine Luka being able to move like that for the full game but not just in crunch time. Why not?

My back is way too messed up to deadlift anything heavy. I had to give up deadlifing in my 20's when I was getting my lifts near competition levels, sucked but I just couldn't seriously pull and stay pain free. Finally in the last 2-3 years, I've gotten to where I don't get shooting pains in my back, only taken 15 years lol for that to stop. So 1k is likely out of the question right now at least. I'm sure if I had to, 315 would come up no big deal on deadlift, but last time I test it, I was feeling tender the next week.

To the chicken or egg question, it's a good question. But if you were skinny at 20, you had at least ok genetics to be skinny. Now obviously, we got people who have just destroyed their bodies in their 20's. But I'm talking the legit guys who hold body fat. Like I had a buddy who wrestled in the 270 class in high school. Love that guy, but he was a big boy his whole life. He clearly over ate, but no amount of dieting even during wrestling ever got him under 250, it's just not possible without extreme dieting that few people would ever do. Now with that said, MOST people can be lean and fit at any age. And everyone making excuses of "my genetics" needs to shut up and remember that while you may not ever be what you want. You can always be better than you are without the work. It's just like I knew a guy at 22 who walked on stage for a body building show after 2 weeks of "dieting" that included pop tarts for breakfast....and he looked great. For me at 21 working out, bussing tables, and going to class where I walked 5 miles a day....I needed 4 months of strict diet to get to 9%...not close to stage level.

[The Rebel]

The problem a lot of elite players have is they are too good and would rather do something then trust their teammates to do it. It took Phil Jackson a full season to convince Jordan that he would have to trust his teammates to win, and Lebron a few summers with coach k and changing teams to really trust his teammates.

Luka has plenty of talent but he has to take that step and I don't know that Kidd is the guy to get through to him on it.

[Johnny Firpo]

I swear some of you guys will just say anything.

Are you really clinging on a small factual error? Yes, CP3 made the finals, still everything else he said is factually correct, no? When did Doncic had a team that came anywhere close to those in talent and depth? Tell me with a straight face that he had a team even remotely that good yet.

[Michael Jordan]

Put Luka on a team like the Nets surrounded by 3+D players and bench depth and he'd go all the way IMO.

Mavs have holes on their roster and its been fairly obvious

[CobraCommander]

When I was in my 20's yeah, I trained with a few groups of power lifters/body builders. I wouldn't call myself a lifter now. I hit the gym maybe 5 times a month and on a good day, maybe I squat 365 for a rep or two. Hardly a lift now, just a fat guy, who tries to maintain a bit of strength. As for him, yeah he was competing at the Arnold Classic, he won a few strong man events without even training for it. He was a freak. No clue if he used anything else, but rehab was 100% for his alcoholism. Honestly, in many years and knowing a LOT of people who I know have used gear, I've never known anyone with serious side effects unless they got into more exotic stuff, and that's not really a discussion for this forum.

As for Luka, I'm sure he's got a VERY efficient metabolism and that's why he's able to hold and gain fat so easily. And I've know guys like that who ate pretty clean, would run marathons, and still held 20%+ body fat. The reality is that the gym is an insanely biased sample of the population. The number of people who keep working out consistently who struggle with weight gain or those who can never gain any real muscle is near 0 in the long term. The gym is a massively biased group of people who have fairly good genetics, at least the serious lifters. The older guys who just get on the tredmill even tend to be naturally fit and lean people. That said, if Luka wants to reach his potential, he'll have to start eating really healthy and track his calories. Most NBA guys at his age don't need to do that (even if they should). Luka, Jokic, and Zion do...

Damn - I love the Arnold classic - 365 isn’t bad for a squat - I assume you are still in the 1000 club (bench, squat, Deadlift) and if not not far from it if you squat 365… and we all get fat at some point.

So here is the chicken or the egg question- do the old guys on the treadmill tend to be lean naturally or do they tend to be lean cause they hit the treadmill?

I ask that because I think when I was young all I did was lift, eat and hang out- I stayed relatively fit LOOKING but as I aged I had to do cardio to stay lean - but as an adult you don’t have enough hours in the day to seriously lift AND do 1 hour of Cardio everyday - which is what it kinda takes to be sub 10% for most humans

Either way - no excuse for Zion or Luka- I still hold out hope that a fit Luka can be great on both ends of the court. He has quick hands, and great feet, length and great anticipation. The put back in the 60 point game to send it to OT was one of the most athletic things I have ever seen. Now imagine Luka being able to move like that for the full game but not just in crunch time. Why not?

My back is way too messed up to deadlift anything heavy. I had to give up deadlifing in my 20's when I was getting my lifts near competition levels, sucked but I just couldn't seriously pull and stay pain free. Finally in the last 2-3 years, I've gotten to where I don't get shooting pains in my back, only taken 15 years lol for that to stop. So 1k is likely out of the question right now at least. I'm sure if I had to, 315 would come up no big deal on deadlift, but last time I test it, I was feeling tender the next week.

To the chicken or egg question, it's a good question. But if you were skinny at 20, you had at least ok genetics to be skinny. Now obviously, we got people who have just destroyed their bodies in their 20's. But I'm talking the legit guys who hold body fat. Like I had a buddy who wrestled in the 270 class in high school. Love that guy, but he was a big boy his whole life. He clearly over ate, but no amount of dieting even during wrestling ever got him under 250, it's just not possible without extreme dieting that few people would ever do. Now with that said, MOST people can be lean and fit at any age. And everyone making excuses of "my genetics" needs to shut up and remember that while you may not ever be what you want. You can always be better than you are without the work. It's just like I knew a guy at 22 who walked on stage for a body building show after 2 weeks of "dieting" that included pop tarts for breakfast....and he looked great. For me at 21 working out, bussing tables, and going to class where I walked 5 miles a day....I needed 4 months of strict diet to get to 9%...not close to stage level.

your experience makes your post interesting and sorry about your Back. I’m still in the 1000 club - barely lol

Luka needs to do what ever it takes to improve -
physically- because I think he has proven in spurts that if he wasn’t carrying 20-30 extra LBs he could be elite.

[dhsilv2]

Damn - I love the Arnold classic - 365 isn’t bad for a squat - I assume you are still in the 1000 club (bench, squat, Deadlift) and if not not far from it if you squat 365… and we all get fat at some point.

So here is the chicken or the egg question- do the old guys on the treadmill tend to be lean naturally or do they tend to be lean cause they hit the treadmill?

I ask that because I think when I was young all I did was lift, eat and hang out- I stayed relatively fit LOOKING but as I aged I had to do cardio to stay lean - but as an adult you don’t have enough hours in the day to seriously lift AND do 1 hour of Cardio everyday - which is what it kinda takes to be sub 10% for most humans

Either way - no excuse for Zion or Luka- I still hold out hope that a fit Luka can be great on both ends of the court. He has quick hands, and great feet, length and great anticipation. The put back in the 60 point game to send it to OT was one of the most athletic things I have ever seen. Now imagine Luka being able to move like that for the full game but not just in crunch time. Why not?

My back is way too messed up to deadlift anything heavy. I had to give up deadlifing in my 20's when I was getting my lifts near competition levels, sucked but I just couldn't seriously pull and stay pain free. Finally in the last 2-3 years, I've gotten to where I don't get shooting pains in my back, only taken 15 years lol for that to stop. So 1k is likely out of the question right now at least. I'm sure if I had to, 315 would come up no big deal on deadlift, but last time I test it, I was feeling tender the next week.

To the chicken or egg question, it's a good question. But if you were skinny at 20, you had at least ok genetics to be skinny. Now obviously, we got people who have just destroyed their bodies in their 20's. But I'm talking the legit guys who hold body fat. Like I had a buddy who wrestled in the 270 class in high school. Love that guy, but he was a big boy his whole life. He clearly over ate, but no amount of dieting even during wrestling ever got him under 250, it's just not possible without extreme dieting that few people would ever do. Now with that said, MOST people can be lean and fit at any age. And everyone making excuses of "my genetics" needs to shut up and remember that while you may not ever be what you want. You can always be better than you are without the work. It's just like I knew a guy at 22 who walked on stage for a body building show after 2 weeks of "dieting" that included pop tarts for breakfast....and he looked great. For me at 21 working out, bussing tables, and going to class where I walked 5 miles a day....I needed 4 months of strict diet to get to 9%...not close to stage level.

your experience makes your post interesting and sorry about your Back. I’m still in the 1000 club - barely lol

Luka needs to do what ever it takes to improve -
physically- because I think he has proven in spurts that if he wasn’t carrying 20-30 extra LBs he could be elite.

Agree, he needs to grow up, drop the beer, and get dialed in. It sucks for him that he can't eat candy, drink beer, and be ripped. Oh well...it's time to find foods he likes that are filling and lower calories, hire a cook, and put in the work going fork to face.

[Doranku]

Some of you have such a shallow understanding of the game trying to blame Luke and/or Kyrie for the Mavs current predicament. Please look at the rest of the roster and tell me which of those players you'd want on your team.

How would your team look playing 4 guards alongside Maxi Kleber at center?

[Harry Garris]

Put Luka on a team like the Nets surrounded by 3+D players and bench depth and he'd go all the way IMO.

Mavs have holes on their roster and its been fairly obvious

They were a very good offensive team that couldn’t defend or rebound well prior to the trade deadline, and they thought it was a good idea to trade their last remaining high level defensive player and size on the wing for more offense.

And the crazy thing is Kyrie hasn’t even upgraded their offense at all. The Mavs offensive rating was the same prior to the Kyrie trade as it is now. But their defense and ability to rebound the ball got even worse.

[CobraCommander]

My back is way too messed up to deadlift anything heavy. I had to give up deadlifing in my 20's when I was getting my lifts near competition levels, sucked but I just couldn't seriously pull and stay pain free. Finally in the last 2-3 years, I've gotten to where I don't get shooting pains in my back, only taken 15 years lol for that to stop. So 1k is likely out of the question right now at least. I'm sure if I had to, 315 would come up no big deal on deadlift, but last time I test it, I was feeling tender the next week.

To the chicken or egg question, it's a good question. But if you were skinny at 20, you had at least ok genetics to be skinny. Now obviously, we got people who have just destroyed their bodies in their 20's. But I'm talking the legit guys who hold body fat. Like I had a buddy who wrestled in the 270 class in high school. Love that guy, but he was a big boy his whole life. He clearly over ate, but no amount of dieting even during wrestling ever got him under 250, it's just not possible without extreme dieting that few people would ever do. Now with that said, MOST people can be lean and fit at any age. And everyone making excuses of "my genetics" needs to shut up and remember that while you may not ever be what you want. You can always be better than you are without the work. It's just like I knew a guy at 22 who walked on stage for a body building show after 2 weeks of "dieting" that included pop tarts for breakfast....and he looked great. For me at 21 working out, bussing tables, and going to class where I walked 5 miles a day....I needed 4 months of strict diet to get to 9%...not close to stage level.

your experience makes your post interesting and sorry about your Back. I’m still in the 1000 club - barely lol

Luka needs to do what ever it takes to improve -
physically- because I think he has proven in spurts that if he wasn’t carrying 20-30 extra LBs he could be elite.

Agree, he needs to grow up, drop the beer, and get dialed in. It sucks for him that he can't eat candy, drink beer, and be ripped. Oh well...it's time to find foods he likes that are filling and lower calories, hire a cook, and put in the work going fork to face.

But to the OPs question- he is not over rated-

Luka is 24 and one of the best players on earth- we are talking about one of the best to ever play having room and opportunity to get even better.

Also we haven’t seen anyone like him at that age perform like he consistently does in the playoffs -period-

Luka getting in shape is like a super model putting on make up. She a super model regardless but she could be even hotter with some lipstick