The Dallas Mavericks have had a busy offseason as they've not only revamped their coaching staff after a mass exodus this summer, but also retooled for yet another playoff run with Cooper Flagg at the forefront. While plenty of attention has been on Flagg and his progression over this summer, there's no denying that things have heated up between Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic and the Mavericks.
When Nico Harrison and the Mavericks traded away Luka Doncic on February 1, they expected plenty of backlash, but not to the extent that Harrison will only be remembered for trading away Doncic at the peak of his career for little to no value. There's no denying that this trade has followed Harrison and Dallas throughout the offseason, and even fueled a media tour by Doncic, where he showed off how in shape he is and how he will be coming for blood next season.
With this in mind, the Lakers hired Jeremy Holsopple, who was a longtime strength and conditioning coach for the Mavericks and was even named the NBA's top strength and conditioning coach in the 2021 season, Marc Stein of announced.
Holsopple will help make Doncic even more comfortable in Los Angeles
There's no doubt in any fan's eyes that Doncic will be out for blood this coming season. Not only has he already transformed his body and shown that he can seriously commit to a diet and to conditioning before the season even starts, but as Slovenia gets closer to competing in the EuroBasket tournament, Doncic looks on fire.
Not only will adding Holsopple to an already impressive coaching staff that understands Doncic's needs be a recipe for good in Los Angeles, but Holsopple was with Doncic throughout much of his early career on the Mavericks. This not only means that Holsopple understands Doncic after spending many seasons with him, but he was also Doncic's strength and conditioning coach when he was in the best shape of his NBA career.
As the Lakers shift their focus to the future, it should be about building around Doncic, but also keeping him in the best shape of his life to extend what will be an already long career for the Slovenian. Having Holsopple is not only a jab at the Mavericks once again, but having an influential figure in Doncic's past around the team should be a well-built relationship.
To make matters worse for the Mavericks, Holsopple was fired by Harrison after the team's run to the Finals due to his influence on the team's decision-making process. Holsopple was not only an influential piece in Dallas, but Harrison would end up replacing Holsopple with Keith Belton, who was underqualified and almost wrecked Dereck Lively II's career after misjudging an ankle injury.
There's no doubt that Doncic will be out for revenge against the Mavericks this season, and the Lakers just added another motivated piece of the Mavericks' past to help unlock another skill level for Doncic.
Last season was the first year that Doncic missed significant time and saw his first major injury, and it may not be a coincidence, considering that was the first year without both Casey Smith and Holsopple around the team (Smith was fired after the 2022-23 season).
Doncic not only missed almost two months of playing time due to his injury last season, but a number of the Mavericks' players missed critical time, which is a large reason the team suffered the injury bug that they did.
