The Los Angeles Lakers made waves back in February when they acquired star point guard Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for 11-time All-Star Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick.
Fast forward six months, and the Lakers have committed three more years and $165 million in Doncic to make him the new face of the team, and some news broke on Monday that further cements the team’s desire to continue investing in the 26-year-old Slovenian.
In 28 games after the trade, Doncic led the Lakers in scoring (28.2 points per game), rebounds (8.1 per game), and steals (1.6 per game), and he ranked second to LeBron James in assists (7.5 per game). He also led the team with 30.2 points and 5.8 assists per game in the postseason.
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Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison is still taking heat for shipping Doncic out of town, and after Monday’s news, he’s likely still in the dog house with a majority of the team’s fans.
“The Lakers are hiring Jeremy Holsopple as their new head strength and conditioning coach, @TheSteinLine has learned,” NBA insider Marc Stein wrote on X. “As Dallas’ athletic performance director, Holsopple was named as the NBA’s top strength and conditioning coach in March 2021.”
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The Mavericks parted ways with Holsopple, the NBA’s Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year in 2021, after the NBA Finals last year.
He spent the 2024-25 season out of the NBA, but now he’s reuniting with Doncic, who’s turned quite a few heads with his impressive offseason transformation, as documented in Men’s Health magazine last month.
Holsopple had been with the Mavericks from 2013 to 2024, and he was credited for helping Doncic not only keep up his strength and conditioning, but he also helped him navigate life in the WNBA as a teenage Slovenian adjusting to American culture. However, it was reported that he was fired because Harrison took issue with his influence over Doncic.
“(Former director of health and performance Casey) Smith, Holsopple and (manual therapist Casey) Spangler were all longtime Mavs employees who had helped Doncic, a Slovenian who spent his adolescence in Spain, make the major cultural transition after coming to Dallas as a teenager,” ESPN’s Tim McMahon wrote back in February.
“They had become confidantes for the superstar, but sources said Harrison saw them as ‘enablers’ of Doncic, despite them being immensely respected by their peers throughout the league.”
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