At one point in time, basketball had a care-free innocence about it for Luka Doncic. Unfortunately, his entire perception of the game changed once the Dallas Mavericks traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers. The five-time All-Star didn’t have the slightest inkling that the team would be parting ways with him. Several months have passed since, but it would appear that the LA Lakers star has yet to move on, at least not completely.
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Coming into the 2024-25 NBA season, nobody would’ve thought Doncic was on the market. The 26-year-old superstar had already established himself as a top-five player in the league. The Dallas Mavericks would have been considered mad to even contemplate trading him away. They would prove to be crazier by actually pulling the trigger.
The decision completely blindsided Doncic. To make matters worse, the Mavericks organization seemingly attempted a smear campaign to paint the 6-foot-6 guard negatively. They made claims highlighting his poor conditioning, suggesting he didn’t truly love basketball.
Many fail to remember it was only a year ago when Doncic led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals. For Luka and his team, they could’ve easily retaliated, but they chose not to.
“Rather than going back and forth, we decided to take the high road,” Doncic’s manager, Lara Beth Seager, told the Wall Street Journal.
Although Luka remained quiet, that didn’t mean he wasn’t hurting. Even to this day, the Slovenian star claims that it’s not something he will completely move on from.
“I think it will always be strange,” Doncic said. “I don’t know if someday I will have closure or not. For sure, it will always be weird.”
Bad blood may remain between Doncic and the team, but not with the fans. In Doncic’s return to Dallas last season, he received an outpour of love from the fan base. During the team’s tribute video, Luka’s emotions were quite apparent. In a way, it was confirmation of a chapter which has come to an end.
Luka tribute video will make you sob#MFFL
— MFFL (@Mavs_FFL) April 9, 2025
Luka has now shifted his focus away from the Mavericks to be what the Los Angeles Lakers need. He has also dropped a ton of weight during the off season and at the very least, looks a very different player. Hopefully, it can translate into his performances as well.
It’s a scary sight knowing that Doncic is entering the season with a chip on his shoulder. While he was ‘out of shape’, Doncic was still one of the best players in the league. Now that he’s taken The Mavericks’ criticism to heart and gotten fitter, the league might be in for a rude awakening this season.
