Skal Labissiere has dramatically transformed his body

This NBA offseason has been full of interesting storylines for The Kentucky Wildcats alumni, but one that has yet to be noticed is the growth of Sacramento Kings forward Skal Labissiere.

We were able to notice Skal’s massive muscle gain because of a video posted by “Ballislife” on YouTube.

The video shows some private games hosted by Rico Hines, a current assistant coach with the NBA’s G League team, the Stockton Kings. The video mostly consisted of highlights from the all-star caliber players such as James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, & Paul George.

You get little clips here and there of Bradley Beal, Buddy Hield, Denzel Valentine, and Taurean Prince. There were also a handful of former Kentucky players who took the court like Skal, Devin Booker and Julius Randle.

There’s also this posted by Skal’s trainer:

Being surrounded by this high class of players you’d expect a guy who averages 8.9 points and 4.8 rebounds to get pushed around a bit. That was not the case. You can see that Labissiere has been hitting the weight room hard this offseason.

You can see him getting to the basket, finishing accurately, dunking, and attacking the boards. He seems to have become a much more aggressive and physically imposing player than before.

It seems that Skal wasn’t just bulking up to look good. The Kings have been very active at adding players in his position, so if it he wants his spot on the team, he’ll have to earn it. He’s trying to show his dedication and worth.

This offseason, the Kings have added Marvin Bagley III and Nemanja Bjelica. With that much depth at the forward position, that isn’t used as much in the small ball game, it’s good to see Labissiere investing time into his body and skill in order to compete for his spot.

Competing for a spot will always keep you pushing yourself to be the best you can be, so let’s hope this was the last nudge Skal needed to finally break into the league.