It’s been a couple of weeks since the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, and the whole world is still trying to process it.
Young superstars don’t typically get traded in the NBA unless they ask out, and that was not the case with Doncic. He was just as surprised as everyone else to learn he had been traded to the Lakers, although he has since played two games and is settling into his new home nicely.
The Doncic trade has understandably been the talk of NBA All-Star Weekend even though he didn’t make the team this year after missing so many games.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver was asked about it and while he was surprised by the trade, he understands all of the different perspectives.
“I was surprised when I heard about the trade,” Silver said. “I did not know that Luka was potentially a player that was about to be traded, that was news to me. I followed it like a fan from that standpoint and I’ve said before, that’s the kind of confidential information that’s generally not shared with the league in advance unless a team is publicly shopping a player and to the best of my knowledge, that’s not what happened in this case of Dallas and Los Angeles.
“And in terms of anger from the fanbase, I’m empathetic. I understand it. Dallas was in the Finals last year. And I’ve also said this before, I like Luka very much. I actually met him before he came into this league when he was with Real Madrid when we were over there playing a preseason game. It seems truly authentic that he was stunned and disappointed, you could see it in his body language. Having said all that, I also am sympathetic to the Mavericks organization. I’ve known Nico Harrison for a long time from his prior tenure at Nike and I’ve gotten to be close to Patrick Dumont, our new governor in Dallas. I can say one thing for sure. Whether or not history will ultimately judge this as a smart trade, [the Mavericks] did what they think was in the best interest of their organization. I have absolutely no knowledge or believe there were ulterior motives. There’s no doubt in my mind that the Dumont and Adelson families bought that team to keep it in Dallas. I have no doubt whatsoever that they’re committed to the long-term success of that franchise.
“In terms of the Dallas fans, all I can say to them is, again, time will tell whether it’s a smart trade, but I think they should believe in their organization. Their organization truly made a trade that they believe was in the best interest of the organization and in many cases, it doesn’t mean they were right or wrong, but it’s very difficult to put yourself in their shoes. They are living with the situation, they have a philosophical belief on what’s necessary ultimately to win championships and I’m not in a position to second guess that.”
Silver’s comments likely won’t stop Mavericks fans from being upset, and understandably so after losing the face of their franchise.
At this point though there is no turning back and Doncic is a member of the Lakers looking to bring the organization its 18th championship in what has been a wild sequence of events.
Luka Doncic looking forward to mental break during All-Star Weekend
Since Luka Doncic wasn’t named an All-Star this year, he gets some time off before the second half of the Lakers’ season and admitted he is looking forward to a mental break after a crazy couple of weeks.
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