POWER UP BY SLOWING DOWN

Supercharge your playground pursuits by learning the art of deceleration from Lakers star LUKA DONČIĆ.

- ANDREW HEFFERNAN

IT WAS AN early morning last July in a quiet town in Croatia, and five-time NBA All-Star Luka Dončić was on a private basketball court.

He was working out with trainer Anže Maček, midway through a 90-minute session that blends weight training, agility work, and shooting drills.

This was the first of two workouts on this day, in an offseason that would prove pivotal for the L.A. Lakers megastar. Earlier in the year, he debuted not one but two new Nike sneakers (the Luka 4 and the Luka .77). Later that summer, he'd sign a three-year, $165 million extension with the team and reveal a stunningly slimmed-down physique, which many on the Internet dubbed his “revenge body” (after he was dumped by Dallas).

Now Dončić, 26, is primed for a monster season as the dominant figure (sorry, LeBron) on a revamped Laker squad. And the key to this new-look Luka (lean, not skinny) was on display during that July sweat session—just not in the exercises you might expect. Because sure, Dončić did 225-pound trap-bar deadlift reps with ease, and he crushed landmine rotations, and he drained plenty of long-range jumpers in between all the weight training.