“When Shaq is saying this guy’s out of shape, you know you’ve hit rock bottom.” After it looked like Luka Doncic was struggling to keep up with his opponents during the NBA Finals, veteran insider Bill Simmons seemingly reiterated Shaquille O’Neal’s comments with a subtle jab at the Hall of Famer. But that does not take away from the fact that Luka’s conditioning has become a major point of concern. And while he dominated in tonight’s season opener against the Spurs, the Slovenian Sensation’s post-game comments might have hurt his reputation even more.

Returning to the court following a long summer break, Luka looked back on his performance. “Yeah, I mean I played terrible.” And despite being only 25 years old, he put himself in the same ranks as his older teammates, “You know, it’s the energy the vets pick up. Me, Klay, and Kai you know we’re the vets in the team.”

Moreover, he even made a shocking confession that could cause worry among the Mavs fans, “First game in what four months? So, I was tired.” Bill Simmons’ comments hit hard now. While he took Shaq’s name, there is no proof of O’Neal actually saying that Doncic was out of shape.

Well, Luka did score 28 points tonight and even grabbed 10 rebounds. And he fell only two assists shy of getting this season’s first triple-double. However, his performance was not as efficient as he would have liked.

While he took 25 field goal attempts all night, only nine of his shots were able to find the back of the net. Maybe some of it had to do with him feeling tired toward the end of the game. And that could mean trouble for the Mavs, especially because Luka’s conditioning has been raising eyebrows all summer.

Luka Doncic’s weight concerned fans but Veteran Insider assured there was nothing to worry about

Earlier this summer, Luka participated in the ‘Night of the Dragon’ game honoring NBA legend Goran Dragic upon his retirement. But amid the happy occasion, fans noticed that the Mavs superstar had gained significant weight since he played in the Finals. And many even claimed that he was now touching the 280 lbs mark. Obviously, combine that with his confession of being ‘tired’ after tonight’s game, Mavs fans would be worried if their star player is even prepared for another deep playoff run.

However, veteran insider Marc Stein gave everyone a huge sigh of relief with an update after Luka’s ‘Night of the Dragon’ sighting, “I saw him in normal clothes, in street clothes on Friday night and he looked pretty normal to me.” Yes, the viral images of Luka’s weight gain might just have been him unluckily getting caught in a bad camera angle. And Stein assured that Luka would get in better shape when it’s go time. “He is just now going to begin, I think, the serious training regimen part of his off-season… the process kind of begins now.”

Sure enough, tonight was only the first game of the season and there is bound to be some rust after the long rest. Despite that, Luka managed to score a near triple-double and he is likely to get in better shape as the season progresses.