The Dallas Mavericks rocked the NBA world by trading five-time All-Star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Doncic helped Dallas into the NBA Finals in 2024 and has a bright future ahead of him.
Dallas landed 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis, Max Christie and LA’s first-round pick in the 2029 draft as part of the three-team trade with the Utah Jazz.
Fans couldn’t hide their disbelief at seeing Doncic head to Los Angeles.
The Slovenian was set for a five-year, $345 million super max contract this summer — he will now be unable to qualify after leaving the team that drafted him in a financial hit that could be worth $115 million.
TV personality Shannon Sharpe was a huge fan of Doncic but thinks Dallas may have made the right call in moving on from the superstar due to issues dating back to his spat with former head coach Rick Carlisle in 2021.
“I gave Luka the name ‘Baby Bird’ because I thought he was that special,” he said on the Nightcap podcast. “He’s the closest white player I’ve seen to Larry Bird. Everybody knew Bird was my favorite.
“But I’ve always questioned whether he’s out of shape. He looks like he’s unconditioned, he looks like he doesn’t take his training and his conditioning seriously and he has some habits. If you look at Rick Carlisle, you got Luka, guys don’t normally say, ‘Na, I’m good’ and leave a superstar player that’s only 22 years of age.
“There were some things that was going on that wasn’t being talked about. If you know the game and you see, you’re like, ‘Something ain’t adding up.’
“Luka was the first player who was eligible to get the super max. Five years, $345 million so basically $69 million a year.
“If a guy’s unconditioned, he doesn’t take his conditioning seriously, there’s some other things going around. If I give him 69 million and he might have some power that we have to rustle away from him.
“Listen to what (General manager) Nico Harrison says, he says something about culture. When I hear that, my ears perk up.”
Former NBA star Jamal Crawford insists that whatever is going on behind the scenes, Doncic is worth the hassle.
“The one question in all of sports – and in life period if you in the entertainment business – is, ‘Are you better than your problems?’
“Luka is better than his problems so that’s why I’m shocked as hell. He’s 25, he can learn to mature.”
Sharpe thinks the fact Dallas bosses were willing to move on is revealing.
“You know it had to be bad Jamal because everything that you said is absolutely true, his production is better than his problems,” he fired back. “But they say, ‘No hell it ain’t. His problems superseded his production.”
NBA icon Charles Barkley also suggested that there must have been hidden factors in play.
“Let me tell you something. The only people that know Luka Doncic is the Dallas Mavericks,” he said on TNT Sports. “Guys who have been with him for years, who have been with him every day.
“He’s a great player, But all of us talking heads — they must know something we don’t know. Listen, he’s been hurt. Everybody complains about his conditioning. But once you give a guy five years, $350 million, y’all are stuck together for life.”
Doncic’s father Sasa isn’t happy with the claims.
“It wasn’t even a problem last year since, I am saying again, one individual said he’s not fit enough,” Sasa said. “That he played, I don’t know, 100 games, practically 40 minutes with two or three players constantly on him.
“That he was beaten and you say such things about him. I feel that this is very unfair from certain individuals.
“You traded him, stand by your actions but don’t look for excuses or alibis, that’s it.”
