Luka Dončić Was Only Ever Supposed to Wear White and Blue
All of a sudden, the Dallas Mavericks are magic-less
This past weekend, I received an outpouring of sympathy from friends who know nothing about basketball. I also received texts that mocked me from men I used to date and haven’t spoken to in years. They were all about one thing — the loss of Luka Dončić.
On Saturday, February 2nd, a deal was finalized in the shadows. It sent the Slovenian superstar to Los Angeles (the city I happened to be visiting when the news broke) and devastated the entire city of Dallas. It was unthinkable, a betrayal to both him and the fans; a move that was not just a shock to my system, but to the entire ecosystem of sports in the United States. The 2023-2024 NBA scoring champion was traded behind his back in the midst of purchasing a 15 million dollar house in the city that loved him, and that he loved right back.
Luka Dončić, the once-in-a-generation basketball player that Dallas was lucky to land seven years ago, traded in his prime to a Western Conference rival. The same Luka Dončić who has an entire day dedicated to him (July 6th) in that very city. The 26-year-old player who dropped 73 points in one game only a year ago, who averages 28.6 points per game (third best all-time), has recorded 80 triple-doubles (seventh best all-time), and was named to the All-NBA first team five times in his first six seasons. He was magic, and he was a Maverick.
The mastermind behind this monumental mishap is Nico Harrison, the General Manager of the Dallas Mavericks. Over the last week, he has been accused of tampering, working for the Lakers, being paid off by Commissioner Adam Silver in the hopes of boosting ratings, and being the world’s biggest idiot. I am inclined to believe all of these accusations. Before last Saturday, he was most famous for botching the meeting that was supposed to see Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry sign with Nike in 2013. With this disaster of a Dončić deal, he’s made himself public enemy number one in Dallas and the most ridiculed executive in sports. It’s quite the resumé.
Harrison seemed prepared in his attempts to justify the move, deploying empty catchphrases like “defense wins championships” and voicing his hesitation to move forward with Dončić’s upcoming supermax contract extension coupled with critiques of his conditioning. What he didn’t prepare himself for was the response of Mavericks fans, who feel blindsided, betrayed, and brokenhearted by his callousness.
What happened Saturday feels so difficult to process because of how unprecedented it is — sure, superstars like his new teammate LeBron James have made seismic moves despite the pleas of their devoted fanbases. While a hard pill to swallow, these moves have always been at the request of the players. But a prodigal player universally adored by the fanbase and the team, and who reciprocated that adoration, shipped off without seemingly a second thought? It’s new, and it’s nauseating.
I often joke about how I wish I didn’t love sports as much as I do so I wouldn’t have to experience the pain of my teams losing and my favorite players leaving. Up until this week, I’ve never once actually meant it. I’ve said it with a wry smile, knowing that the broad range of emotions I experience through sports is what makes me so invested in following them. But Laker Luka Dončić has made me truly reevaluate my attachment to my teams for the first time in my life; apathy seems far preferable to this inescapable anger.
Outside of the American Airlines Center in Dallas, there’s a 23-foot white bronze statue of Dirk Nowitzki shooting his signature one-legged fadeaway shot. The legendary player spent all 21 of his seasons in the NBA with the Mavericks, leading the franchise to their first—and only—championship in 2011. From the moment he was drafted, Dončić was his heir apparent, playing his first season in Dallas the same year that Nowitzki played his last. Inscribed on the bottom of the statue, as chosen by the Hall of Famer himself, is the phrase “loyalty never fades away” — an homage to both his iconic shot and his time spent with the team; the most of any NBA player with a single franchise. For the last seven years, Dončić was following in Nowitzki’s footsteps, loyal to a city that was so lucky to have him. A week ago, all of that shattered.
Dončić was known for driving his flashy cars around Dallas; during last year’s playoffs, a video of him stuck in traffic on the tollway went viral. I’ll never forget when I locked eyes with him a few years ago, turning down a street a few blocks away from my house (which is about a ten-minute drive to the AAC and Mavs practice facility). He was behind the wheel of this beautiful blue first-generation Chevrolet Camaro, and when he looked at me as I drove past him, I was so overwhelmed that I had to pull over. Oh my god, I just made eye contact with Luka Dončić. It was my own personal moment of Luka magic among the many he gave Dallas in his seven spectacular years here — I’ll forever mourn what I feel should’ve been his entire career in this city.