THE INTERMITTENT FASTING was put on hold for a few hours.
As the dishes were served in Katowice, Poland -- a salad for Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss; fish for Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka; and a steak and vegetables, plus a salad, for the man they flew more than 6,000 miles to see -- the Lakers' traveling representatives made it clear over a long lunch in late August that if something was important to Luka Doncic, then it was important to them, too.
The 26-year-old superstar was preparing to put his trimmed-down body, honed by months of intense workouts and dietary discipline (including a daily 16-hour fasting window), to the test for his national team, competing for Slovenia in EuroBasket a month ahead of training camp for the next NBA season.