Everyone in Los Angeles is paying close attention to the moves being made (or not being made) to bolster the roster. However, the Los Angeles Lakers just delivered a strong upgrade to their staff around the team that should have everyone excited.
Marc Stein wrote on Twitter/X, "The Lakers are hiring Jeremy Holsopple as their new head strength and conditioning coach, [The Stein Line] has learned. As Dallas’ athletic performance director, Holsopple was named as the NBA's top strength and conditioning coach in March 2021."
Holsopple was fired by the Dallas Mavericks after the 2023-24 campaign. The team which criticized the conditioning and health of Luka Doncic, before sending him out of town in the blockbuster trade everyone mocks to this day, got rid of a key piece that helped keep the superstar at his best.
Doncic has since undergone a well-publicized body transformation during the 2025 offseason. Adding Holsopple into the mix should only improve what the Lakers superstar point guard is capable of doing in the upcoming 2025-26 season.
Lakers' support around Luka Doncic continues to grow ahead of pivotal season
"They get rid of everybody I like," Doncic told one ESPN source in an article written by Ramona Shelburne and Tim MacMahon around the time of the trade to Los Angeles.
Holsopple was stated to have a strong relationship with Luka in that same write-up by the ESPN duo. It was an odd move to get rid of a valued member from the Mavericks organization that pre-dated Doncic, himself.
The Lakers are once again set to reap the benefits of what the Mavericks had sown. Doncic will likely be afforded the opportunity to take full advantage at their expense too.
The Lakers superstar reportedly had a full-time body team with the Mavericks. That gives validation to some of the recent murmurings that Doncic would have enjoyed the boost from a commitment to health, whether it had been in Dallas or Los Angeles.
An injury-riddled 2024-25 season was just not able to provide those results. The Mavericks got nervous and pulled the plug. Now, the Lakers continue to get stronger and stronger in the process.
Hiring Holsopple is yet another indicator that the Lakers are Luka's team now. Jeanie Buss and company continue to embrace figures that Doncic possesses a strong liking for and welcome them to the inner circle in Los Angeles. That is how you properly treat a generational talent.