LeBron James texted Luka Doncic on the morning of his latest teammate’s Los Angeles Lakers debut, hoping for the honour to be featured last among starters for a match against the Utah Jazz I asked if I was there.
“Today,” replied Doncic, “If you can have me this.”
And four words from Lakers announcer Lawrence Tanter – “From Luka Doncic, Slovenia” – it was officially official. The 25-year-old’s first team selection for the five All-NBAs wore blue and gold for the forum.
The Los Angeles dream is a nightmare for the Dallas Mavericks. That’s reality. Luka is a Laker. The Mavericks really traded him in 2029 for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and one first draft pick.
It was the pinnacle of the week between the Doncic contract and his debut. During that period, what was on the face was that the stupidest trade in modern NBA history somehow got worse for the Mavericks every day.
The first news of the trade surprised the entire league. As evident from his final appearances last season, Doncic’s caliber players are those who won the NBA championships and the team will not trade those players before the players enter the Prime season. Even the Lakers were shocked. As one person familiar with the locker room reaction said in the aftermath of trade “it was unclear to say the least.”
At an introductory press conference, Lakers executive Rob Perinka thanked Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison for trading Doncic for Los Angeles, which he said was a “gift” and “in NBA history.” “The earthquake event.”
Everyone thought there had to be an explanation of this.
Only the first wave of reports was rarely continued. Neither Doncic nor Dallas proposed to show that they would turn down the $345 million Super Max extension that they qualified in July.
“It’s definitely not,” Doncic said. “A simple answer.”
Instead, Harrison told ESPN’s Tim McMahon, “I believe defense will win the championship. Getting all the NBA players with all the defensive centers and defensive mindset will give you a better chance. “The future.” So we thought: maybe he believes this is a good deal.
And Harrison spoke a little more. He only dealt with his old friend Perinka, who was reportedly sharing a family vacation with Lakers legend Coby Bryant in the early 2000s. The Mavericks never created a bid war on one of the biggest awards of all time to become available through trade.
“I’m not going to talk bad about any player, and that’s not going to do anything good for us or me,” Harrison said. “There’s a level to it. There’s people who fit the culture. There’s people who join the culture. Two clear things.
Wait, did they say Doncic is not a cultural fit for Dallas? Was he a culture? Where in his first six seasons did he make Mavs appear in the 2022 Western Conference Finals and the 2024 NBA Finals?
In fact, ESPN’s Dave McMenamine reported that “there was a major dissatisfaction within the organization about Doncic’s lack of discipline regarding his diet and conditioning, which Team Source considered a major factor in his injury issues.” did. He reportedly weighed almost 270 pounds at training camp, and Mavs seemed to have contributed to the tension of the left calves who suffered over Christmas.
So we’ve been a 25-year-old superstar Doncic, who averaged 33.9 points, 9.8 assists and rebounded 9.2 on the way to Tilt last season, was more cultural and conditioning wrongly than Davis, 31. I believe it is something that is. – A year old future Hall of Fame in the year that missed at least 26 games in four of the past six seasons?
Davis was less shocked to reorganize an existing adduct wound in his Dallas debut after an astonishing second half. He is reportedly on the sidelines indefinitely and at least throughout the All-Star break. Currently the eighth Mavericks in the West (28-26) are truly at risk of missing out on the playoffs entirely.
And Cherry, on top of the world’s worst Sunday, came on Sunday when Mavericks Gov. Patrick Dumont told Dallas Morning News’ “Brad Townsend.” Michael) (Rally), Kobe, Shaq (O’Neal) – If they don’t have it every day, it won’t work You don’t have it, you should be part of the Dallas Mavericks Not that.
“That’s what we want. I’m unwavering about this. The whole organization knows this. This is how I work outside of basketball. This is the only way to be competitive and win. If you want to take a holiday, don’t do it with us.”
It wasn’t just the Mavericks explicitly saying Doncic didn’t suit their culture. Dumont showed a surprising lack of awareness about NBA history. Jordan gambled on the golf course between games. The bird injured his finger with a shooting hand at a bar fight during the 1985 Eastern Conference Finals, telling the media, “I want to drink beer and go out and have a good time – I’m a human.” He spoke. Bryant had his own off-court problems. And O’Neill once said he hadn’t had surgery in the offseason.
Winning the championship is not a singular focus. It’s a Doncic caliber player. What’s more, Doncic is just as competitive as everyone else, and if you don’t know yet, he won’t turn 26 until February 28th.
What was not actually true is that the Mavericks believed that Luka Doncic was not worthy of Dallas.
And on Monday, the news on Mavs continued to get worse. Fans of the American Airlines Center’s Jumbotron closed their mouths to the crowd. “Fire Nico” was soon escorted by security. And for the first time during his tenure, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd did not address the media after an overtime defeat.
James and Doncic threw the Robs to Jackson Hayes on two possessions in their first game on Monday. Doncic discovered that James leaked out late in the second quarter of the blowout victory. No one in LA thought, this guy doesn’t fit. I’m just the opposite. James told Doncic at the pre-game festival that he doesn’t need to try to comply with the Lakers. They fit him.
“Luke, your f*** inf inself,” James said. “Don’t fit, fit f*** out.”
James may have added something we were all thinking. I still can’t believe this. Luka is a Laker.
