Former Mavs GM Donnie Nelson criticized Dallas for trading Luka Doncic without the respect and farewell that franchise legend Dirk Nowitzki received, calling it a disappointing break from the team’s past values.
Donnie Nelson, the longtime Dallas Mavericks executive who helped bring in both Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic, believes the two franchise icons deserved to be treated the same—but they weren’t.
Nelson, 62, who recently joined the Slovenian national team as a chief advisor, criticized the Mavs for trading Doncic and said Nowitzki would never have been treated that way. He shared his thoughts in an interview with Ekipa 24.
“We were with Dirk Nowitzki for 21 years, and the last three years were out of pure respect,” Nelson told Ekipa 24, via Grant Afseth. “People like that deserve to say goodbye on their own terms and according to their wishes, and everyone deserves a decent funeral – figurative or literal.”
Luka’s time with Dallas ended in February 2025 when he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis.
“Everyone was shocked,” Nelson said. “Some of us are still shocked.”
“During my years in Dallas, we always considered what was important to that community,” he added. “And we looked at the players being a part of that. It was never like we went to one of our ATMs, took out a player, used him until he was most useful, and then threw him away.”
“Of course, this is the NBA, and trades can happen; players come and go,” Nelson went on to say. “But with all due respect, you have to understand that some players are different, special, and even more important to the environment and the community. It’s important to treat those players with respect.”
“That’s why there was so much disappointment after what happened to Luka,” he then admitted. “Not just my disappointment, but a universal disappointment. Could this happen to Real [Madrid]? Never. And it wouldn’t have happened when I was in Dallas.”
Nelson served as the Mavericks’ general manager and president of basketball operations throughout Nowitzki’s career and was the mastermind behind the trade that brought Doncic to Dallas.
The experienced executive left the franchise in 2021 after being with the team since 2005, making him the longest-tenured GM in the NBA at the time.
