Apr 11, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) moves the ball against the Houston Rockets during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

Lakers Coach Looking for New Ways to Best Utilize Luka Doncic

Originally posted on Los Angeles Lakers on SI
By Ricardo Klein | Last updated Sep 3, 2025 12:30 PM ET

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic is showcasing his new physique, participating in the 2025 EuroBasket.

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Doncic has been showing up and showing out during the tournament, proving that he is ready to take the world by storm once the NBA season commences.

The 26-year-old superstar, regardless of being in shape or not, is demonstrating why he is one of the best players in the world.

While that is the case, fans in LA only care if he can lead the Lakers to heights they've become accustomed to. In LA, it's all about titles, and if he fails to do that here, no one will care how great a player he is.

However, in order for LA to reach those heights, Doncic needs all the help he can to meet those expectations. Well, leave it up to Lakers assistant coach Greg St. Jean this summer, who is also an assistant coach for the Slovenian national team in EuroBasket.

In a recent interview with BasketNews, St. Jean said he is doing his best to figure out how to best utilize Doncic in LA.

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“Coach Sekulic is a fantastic coach, and obviously, he has a great system and has had a lot of success here with the national team. He’s coached Luka and known him for a long time. We had a relationship prior, in 2022, so we’ve talked a little bit about some different ways to utilize Luka.

“And we’ve tried to all come together and put our basketball brains together to try to set our team up for success. And we’ve used a few things from the Lakers. Obviously, there’s been some stuff that we’ve used from his [Sekulic’s] book. It’s been a great partnership.”

“There’s a lot of stuff that we’re watching and seeing… But there are things that we see in the tournament, whether it’s an opponent doing it or we’re doing it, that I’ll sit there and I’ll take my notes and say, ‘Hey, that’s something that would be great for us to try with the Lakers. Or that’s something I haven’t seen in the NBA.’

“There are a lot of really good players and really good coaches over here. So, I’m just trying to learn as much as possible.”

The five-time All-Star has been fantastic for his home country. He is showing that his weight loss has been no issue; in fact, he looks better than ever as he prepares for his first full season with the Lakers this fall.

St. Jean has a tall task at hand, but with JJ Redick at the helm, he and his staff will do everything they can to ensure Doncic is at his best with the best support around him.

That may not be this season, but it could be sooner rather than later. Only time will tell how it pans out.