To paraphrase the words of the late great Kobe Bryant after being eliminated from the NBA playoffs, next season begins now for the Los Angeles Lakers. They face a potentially huge offseason where they could have up to about $50 million in salary cap space to work with, in part because several of their key players can or will become free agents, including LeBron James and Austin Reeves.
Regardless, their 2025-26 season ended on April 2 when Reeves and Luka Doncic suffered oblique and hamstring strains, respectively. Reeves returned a few weeks later for the first round of the playoffs, but Doncic never came close.
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The good news is that the pain in Doncic’s injured hamstring has not only subsided, but he’s reportedly returned to the strict diet he adopted when he lost weight last summer and is in much better shape, according to The Athletic.
“He has started the same rigorous offseason diet he did last summer to transform his body and is now pain-free in his hamstring, which is a positive sign for his long-term health,” Dan Voick and Sam Amick wrote.
“We expect he will not be limited in his preparations for next offseason, which is a priority for the Lakers, and be able to lead any lineup the Lakers play alongside him.”
Until the start of last offseason, Doncic had been criticized for his lack of fitness and conditioning and not eating a healthy enough diet. But he put in a lot of hard work and smart work, which set him up for a great season in 2025-26 until he injured his hamstring.
He averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game as the Lakers won 16 of 18 games before a crushing loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 2 that put him in the MVP discussion. The 27-year-old won his second scoring title while his long-controversial defense improved.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Report: Luka Doncic has begun the same strict diet as last offseason