"He needs to lose weight" - Kendrick Perkins bluntly blames Luka Doncic's sluggish frame for Warriors blowout win over Lakers

The LA Lakers lost to the Golden State Warriors on Friday 123-116 and fingers are being pointed at Luka Doncic. The Slovenian guard had an abysmal shooting night, hitting only six of his 17 shots (35.3%). He also failed to connect on a single 3-pointer despite six attempts.

One person blaming Doncic for the loss is ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins. The day after the Lakers-Warriors game, the former Boston Celtics champion appeared on "NBA Today" to share his criticism. However, it wasn’t Doncic’s shooting that drew his ire.

Instead, Perkins pointed to an issue long associated with Doncic — his conditioning.

"We're going into the postseason, and Luka's biggest issue has to be addressed in the offseason," Perkins said. "He's out of shape, he needs to lose weight. That's not gonna happen no time soon."

"It's a reason why Golden State was searching him out defensively and it's gonna continue to happen even when they get into the postseason."

When the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic, they reportedly cited his conditioning as the primary reason. A rumor even surfaced claiming he weighed 270 pounds, which Doncic quickly denied. According to the NBA’s official profile, his listed weight is 230 pounds.

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Chris Broussard points to key difference between Luka Doncic's teammates with the Dallas Mavericks and LA Lakers

Luka Doncic has long faced criticism for his defense, even during his time with the Mavericks. Still, Dallas managed to reach the NBA Finals despite his defensive shortcomings.

On Friday's episode of "First Things First," analyst Chris Broussard highlighted a key factor that helped mask Doncic’s defensive deficiencies in Dallas.

"Last night, Luka — everybody blew by him," Broussard said. "Steph (Curry), (Brandin) Podziemski and Jimmy Butler blew by him and they have no rim protection. Like Dallas, it was okay because you had (Daniel) Gafford and (Dereck) Lively II to protect the rim." (13:22-13:35)

The LA Lakers have defensive-minded players such as Dorian Finney-Smith and Jarred Vanderbilt. However, they don’t offer the same interior presence Doncic had in Dallas.

Finney-Smith has averaged just 0.3 blocks per game in his career. He is more effective chasing players off screens, guarding the perimeter, and locking down opposing wings. Vanderbilt, while a strong on-ball defender, isn’t a dominant shot blocker either, averaging only 0.4 blocks per game for his career.

In contrast, Doncic’s former teammates Gafford and Lively II excel at rim protection. Last season, they averaged 1.9 bpg and 1.4 bpg, respectively. Additionally, P.J. Washington contributed with 0.9 bpg.

Lakers center Jaxson Hayes is averaging 0.9 bpg per game this season, but the overall interior defense in LA falls short of what Doncic had in Dallas.