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The Los Angeles Lakers made one of the most seismic trades in the history of the league by acquiring All-Star and MVP candidate Luka Doncic at the trade deadline. While the trade was celebrated in Tinseltown, it sparked outrage in Dallas, and even sadness in Doncic himself.
In Luka Doncic’s debut for the Los Angeles Lakers on February 10 against the Utah Jazz, his former teammate and Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki was in attendance.
Nowitzki has remained close with Doncic over the years and recently revealed he was in attendance at Doncic’s Lakers debut because he was invited. Dirk said he attended because he wanted to be there for “him… [and] his family.”
The legendary Mavericks center added that he thought Doncic previously wanted to spend his career with the Dallas Mavericks.
“He invited me to come out to his first game in L.A., and I felt like I had to support him,” Nowitzki said. “I think he was he was pretty down and disappointed in how it went down, and so I wanted to be there for him, I wanted to be there for his family. … I’m sure he wanted to finish his career like I did.”
Doncic’s trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, while still needing time to coalesce, has the potential to turn the Lakers in a legitimate championship contender if their win over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday is any evidence.
In their 123-100 win over the 3rd seeded Denver Nuggets, which improved their record to 34-21, Doncic had 32 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. The five-time All-Star wasn’t alone, however, as LeBron James posted 25 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura also chipped in with 23 and 21 points, respectively.
As the calendar turns to March, the Los Angeles Lakers currently have the sixth best odds to win the NBA title behind the Boston Celtics (defending champions), Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks.