More than two months after the shocking trade that saw the Los Angeles Lakers acquire Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks, it still doesn’t feel real that it happened. And the outrage that Mavericks fans have had towards the franchise and especially general manager Nico Harrison has not died down yet.
It reached its peak when Doncic returned to Dallas for the first time as a member of the Lakers. Mavericks fans showered cheers on Doncic throughout the Lakers’ victory while chanting ‘Fire Nico’ at multiple points throughout. The everlasting image of that night will always be Luka being brought to tears while watching the tribute video prior to the start of the game.
Seemingly every time Harrison has spoken about the trade he has only made things worse and that continued again with his most recent press conference. Garrison admitted that while he knew Doncic was important to the Dallas fans, he didn’t realize just how important he was, via ESPN:
For Harrison to be unaware of how beloved Doncic was in Dallas is truly unbelievable as it seemed apparent to everyone else. He has already been greatly embraced by Lakers fans in L.A. but it is undeniable the connection he had with Mavericks fans and he truly wanted to remain there for the entirety of his career.
In fairness to Harrison, injuries to both Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving in the ensuing weeks certainly made things worse for the Mavericks. And it is reasonable to believe that had they stayed healthy, Dallas would’ve been competitive and that could have quieted at least some of the vitriol directed that way.
Clearly there was a divide between Harrison and Doncic and he felt the Mavericks would be better off without the superstar guard. The Lakers are certainly happy with the outcome and Harrison will continue to have to deal with the fallout of trading away a generational talent.
One of the things that came into question about Luka Doncic from the Mavericks camp was his work ethic as some within the organization felt he didn’t put in enough work and was lazy and often out of shape. The Lakers aren’t seeing any of that since he joined the franchise and Rob Pelinka has been happy with everything he has witnessed.
Pelinka recently spoke on Doncic and while he obviously praised his otherworldly basketball skills, the Lakers general manager also made not of his work ethic. Pelinka said Doncic has been a great leader on this team while also noting that he is at the Lakers’ practice facility on a nightly basis putting in the necessary work to be great.
