Luka Doncic was the face of the Dallas Mavericks ever since he was traded for on draft night with Trae Young. The franchise’s future championship ambitions were clearly on his shoulders. So it was surprising even for him when the Mavericks traded him to the Lakers in February this season. While speaking to Mallika Andrews of ESPN about his time with the Mavericks, Doncic had nothing but praise for his former team.
“I would say I gave everything to that franchise, you know. I played through a lot of injuries, a lot of people don’t know, never asked for nothing, just small things, and I had a great time, honestly. It was the first team that drafted me, I mean, the trade (Trae Young for Luka Doncic) happened in the draft, but you know I came there as a kid. When I was 18, I didn’t know what to expect from the NBA, I didn’t know I’ll be good, bad. So they gave me the opportunity, I really appreciate it”, he said. (5:20 onwards)
Following the above-mentioned response, Andrews asked Doncic if he planned to retire with the Mavericks, to which he gave his instant response, saying yes, he did. This shows the ruthless nature of the NBA business world. Even when the best player on your team wants to play his entire career with the team, the front office’s idea of success comes over player loyalty.
On the night of the 2018 NBA Draft, Luka Doncic was originally drafted by the Atlanta Hawks and then traded to the Mavericks for Trae Young. Luka Doncic averaged 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 6.0 assists in 72 games in his rookie season. Moreover, he even won the Rookie of the Year award. In his entire career with the Mavericks, he never averaged below 20.0 points per game in a season. He was a constant triple-double threat and averaged over 8.0 rebounds and 8.0 assists in six out of the seven seasons he played in the NBA so far (excluding his rookie season).
Luka Doncic has averaged 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 8.3 assists in a total of 422 games played for the Mavericks in his career. Doncic took the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season before eventually losing to the Celtics. That was the nearest the Mavericks came to an NBA title since 2011 (since Dirk Nowitzki’s prime era). Hence, it was a shocking decision from the Mavericks to trade their best player for an aging Anthony Davis.
While the initial decision came as a shock to the NBA world, including Doncic himself, Doncic is right in taking the high road and showing nothing but gratitude to the team that technically drafted him.
Let’s look at LeBron James as an example. In his first stint with the Cavaliers, he carried them in the playoffs on several occasions but never won it all. However, until he gained the experience of playing on a championship-caliber team with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Heat, he couldn’t bring glory to the Cavaliers in 2016.
If Doncic burned all bridges with the Mavericks, he would extinguish the chances of ever returning and winning it all in Dallas. Now, with the experience that he gets playing alongside LeBron, it may propel him to a level where he could return to Dallas eventually and win it all for them. Therefore, Luka is right in showing gratitude instead of publicly criticizing the Mavericks or being angry with them.
