While I never thought his weight affected his game, less weight should help his knees and longevity. Here you can see his sweaty shirt clinging to his abs.
It seems that this is the trend.....but I must ask is this really such a great thing? Will the player become quicker? Will he lose his ability to bully people in the low post? I can understand the part where the legs might be fresher because of less weight but other than that I am still not sold on losing so much weight it isn't as if these guys were fat.
obviously they've got world class nutritionists and trainers and you'd hope they know what they're doing. As far as losing abiity to bang in the post and that, I had all 4 wisdom teeth removed in one go and couldnt eat for a while (went from 100kg to 93kg) and I was geting massacred in rugby. weight is very important and advantageous in sport if its 'good' weight and doesnt hinder movement/explosiveness.
People keep questioning these moves, but like you said they've got the best of the best giving them advice on every part of their diet, physique, etc. I think I'll defer to the experts.