The Dallas Mavericks will forever be lambasted for trading away superstar guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in his prime. But just a couple years earlier, they also allowed Jalen Brunson to leave in free agency for nothing, and he would sign with the New York Knicks and ultimately lead them to their first NBA Championship in 53 years.
Brunson and Doncic worked well together as teammates on the Mavericks and they still have a good relationship to this day. And when Brunson was recently asked who is the most famous person he has in his phone, he would name the Lakers superstar, via Kids Sports Reporters on Instagram:
There are very few basketball players on the planet who are more famous than Doncic, so him being Brunson’s answer makes a ton of sense. It was also great to see Brunson begin to jokingly trash talk Doncic at first, calling him a horrible teammate, but then begin defending him when one of the kids said he doesn’t play defense.
Doncic’s defensive reputation has become a bit overblown over the past couple of seasons. While he is certainly not a lockdown defender by any means, he gave great effort on that side of the court, especially this past season, and was amongst the league leaders in charges drawn. Even Brunson noted that Doncic does play defense and tries hard, but regardless, the reputation sticks with the Lakers star.
But there is no doubt that Doncic is working hard this offseason to continue to improve in all facets so he can accomplish what Brunson just did in winning an NBA Championship. Doncic has made it clear that hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy is his ultimate goal and the most important thing to him, and the Lakers will be doing everything this summer to put the pieces around him to do just that.
And it is very likely that Brunson will probably rub it in his former teammate’s face that he got a ring first, which should only motivate Doncic even more.
Luka Doncic fully healthy to begin offseason training
Of course, getting healthy was the top priority for Doncic heading into this offseason as his season was ended prematurely due to a Grade 2 left hamstring strain. But the Lakers superstar reportedly has been fully cleared for basketball activities and is good to go as he begins his offseason training regimen.
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