Luka Doncic seemed to be penciled in to be a lifer for the Dallas Mavericks, like Dirk Nowitzki, who spent 21 years with the franchise. However, Dallas’ front office had a different idea by shockingly trading Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
In exchange, the Mavericks received Anthony Davis, Max Christie and an unprotected first-round pick. Unfortunately, Davis suffered an adductor strain in his debut, but Christie is proving how valuable he is as a role player for a playoff team.
But nothing can take the pain Mavericks fans feel away seeing their franchise player being traded. To make matters worse, Nowitzki came to L.A. to support Doncic during his Lakers debut, seemingly sending a message to the Mavericks organization after they traded away his former teammate.
After being there for Doncic’s debut, Nowitzki shared his emotions on the blockbuster deal, expressing his sadness and disappointment for his friend but also explaining his he wanted to be there for him in that moment, via WFAA:
“When I saw the news, I was actually all across on the other side of the world. I was vacationing with the family in the Maldives. … Actually about to go to lunch and then we’re leaving that day to travel back and my phone starts blowing up. Fast forward coming home, obviously Luka, we texted a bit. I felt a little disappointed and sad for him. He obviously didn’t see this coming. So he invited me to come out to his first game in L.A. and I felt like I had to support him. I felt like I played with him in my last season. We got close. I tried to mentor him, I tried to help him as much as I can in the last few years. He’s a good kid, so I felt like I had to go out there and support him in this new chapter. It was reported that he was pretty down and disappointed how it went down, so I wanted to be there for him. I wanted to be there for his family and show support. You guys saw my face, it was weird. It was surreal to see him play for the Lakers. So at the end of the day, I’ll never be a Lakers fan but I’ll always be a Luka fan. It was good to see him and good to be there for him.”
Now weeks removed from this move, there remains a surreal aspect for both fanbases and Nowitzki saw firsthand how special Doncic was in his rookie season. To throw that away due to skepticism regarding his conditioning and long-term commitment seems unreasonable, but it is great to see the newest Laker have the much-needed emotional support from the Mavericks legend.
Luka Doncic ‘happy’ to be part of Lakers organization after having time to digest trade
It remains to be seen if Luka Doncic will ever be able to truly get past this trade, but he has been able to compartmentalize all those emotions so far. After having time to adjust to his new team and a new situation, Doncic is ‘happy’ to be a part of the Lakers organization.
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