LA Lakers' star new acquisition, Luka Doncic, has been at the end of harsh criticism following the team's embarrassing loss to Utah Jazz on Wednesday at the Delta Center. The Slovenian made his much-anticipated debut for the Lakers earlier this week in the home fixture against the Jazz on Monday. The game also marked his return from the calf injury, that he picked up in December against the Minnesota Timberwolves. While Doncic has recovered and returned to the court, he is yet to play with his 100% potential, as per the Lakers insider Jovan Buha.
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When Will Luka Doncic Return to His Best?
Having played 23 minutes in the game, Luka Doncic scored 14 points and registered 4 rebounds and as many assists. Yet the star guard drew flak. According to many experts, Doncic was slow in the offence and not actively engaged in defence.
Witnessing Doncic's performance a fan asked Jocan Buha on his podcast about when the Lakers fans could expect Luka Doncic to fare at 100%.
"For covering teams now for 7 years, one thing that you hear coaches and players constantly say is like the second the first day of training camp starts, you are never 100% the rest of the way," Buha noted.
"He's never going to be 100% because I don't think LeBron's gonna be 100%, I don't think Austin's gonna be 100%. You are never 100%," he added. "These guys are constantly dealing with stuff.
"And a lot of times, it's stuff we don't even know about, or it's stuff that's not public, and they just don't want people to know. You could tweak your knee and just play through that, and it's not on the injury report.
"There're all these things that are going on that we don't always know about, or we can't report on or share or whatever, and sometimes that stuff affects players," Buha continued. "I think he [Doncic] can get close to 100%, and I don't think he needs a full offseason."
Luka Doncic has so far produced decent numbers for the LA Lakers. He has averaged 15.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists over two games while featuring for an average time of 23.5 minutes per game.