Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic was accused of taking Ozempic to fast-track his weight loss this past summer after photos emerged of him looking significantly leaner. When the Lakers visited their intercity rivals on Saturday, the rabid LA Clippers fanbase spared no mercy to Doncic, harassing him with various obscene chants and signs that poked fun at his offseason physical transformation.
“Clippers fans sitting in “The Wall” seats behind the basket at Intuit Dome were waving Ozempic, Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig signs while Luka Doncic was at the free throw line,” ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported on X.
“The Wall” comprises a dedicated section of Clippers fans at the Intuit Dome, strategically placed behind the basket, with 51 rows of supporters who do their best to create a hostile environment for visiting teams, especially when they get to the free-throw line. Clippers fans have succeeded in creating an intimidating atmosphere at their new arena, as data reveals that most players shoot a lower free-throw percentage when they visit the Clippers at the new Inglewood premises.
Luka Doncic Struggles Before Injury
Perhaps Clippers fans succeeded in getting under Doncic’s skin, as the Slovenian shot 4-of-13 from the floor and 1-of-6 from three before leaving the game with an injury. He also shot 60% from the free-throw line — lower than his season average of 82% — when he was up against fans at “The Wall” hurling insults at him.
Doncic did not return for the second half, with the Lakers head coach JJ Redick revealing that he suffered a lower left leg contusion late in the second quarter.
“I saw him hobbling towards the end of the first half. He came to me at halftime and said he couldn’t go,” Redick revealed after the Lakers suffered a 103-88 loss to the Clippers, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
Luka Doncic Injury News
The Luka Doncic injury comes at the worst possible time for the Lakers, who are also dealing with injuries to Rui Hachimura (groin), Deandre Ayton (elbow), Austin Reaves (calf strain) and Gabe Vincent (back).
LeBron James urged his teammates to embrace the “next man up mentality” ahead of their away clash against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.
“No matter what the circumstances are, it’s still next man up,” James said after Saturday’s loss to the Clippers. “We’re all professionals. We all got to stay ready. So, obviously it’s very challenging circumstances for our ball club tonight, but I think we played extremely hard, we followed our keys. We just came up short.”
James, who finished with 36 points, acknowledged that his team had endured some misfortune following their NBA Cup quarterfinal loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
“The worst thing about sports is injuries,” James said of the Lakers injury woes. “And not just basketball, but sports in general. You control the controllables, but what we have out there, whoever is in uniform, we have to go out and execute at the utmost pace that we can and on the other end, we got to defend on a string and help each other out.”
As for Doncic’s Ozempic accusations, the Slovenian star had a simple one-word response during his appearance on NBC’s “Today Show” on July 30.
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