Oftentimes when a team trades a superstar, the franchise says a lot of kind words about that player on the way out, unless a payer has somehow alienated the team prior to the deal. That wasn’t the case, however, when the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Despite Doncic’s success on the court, leading them to two conference finals including a trip to the NBA Finals last year, and the fact that he never demanded to be traded away, there have been a number of disparaging remarks coming from inside the Mavericks organization. In particular, there have been many comments about Doncic’s weight and conditioning, more or less insinuating that the new Lakers star is lazy and has bad work ethic.
This hasn’t sat well with Doncic and it sounds as if he is using the comments from the Mavericks as some extra motivation. According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Doncic worked out with Lakers assistant Scott Brooks while in Cabo during All-Star weekend, and that those digs from the Maverick have fueled him:
But not totally. When Dončić returned to L.A. with a bit of a sunburn on his face, it wasn’t just from time spent on the beach. Lakers assistant coach Scott Brooks met him in Cabo and they worked out at a private, outdoor court for two hours a day, sources said. Dončić also supplemented the basketball drills by lifting weights in the gym at his hotel.
Though Dončić did not publicly comment on the constant flow of leaks from the Mavericks organization disparaging his weight and conditioning, one source close to Dončić told ESPN the comments have served as a motivator. “A beast was awakened inside him,” the source said.
Many of the all-time greats in the history of the league were always able to take anything and use it as motivation to prove doubters wrong. Players like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant were known to do this and Doncic is in that same category with everything the Mavericks have said since dealing him to the Lakers.
If Luka has indeed taken these things to heart then that is a serious problem for the rest of the league. He is already one of the five best players in the NBA today, but now being able to learn things from LeBron James, and with an even bigger chip on his shoulder, everyone could be in for the best version of Doncic yet.
Lakers coach JJ Redick not worried about how Luka Doncic will play vs. Mavericks
Luka Doncic will have his first chance to make the Mavericks pay on Tuesday night as the Lakers will host Dallas for the first time since the trade. In some cases, that first game against a player’s former team can be a bit overwhelming with some trying so hard to get a little revenge. But Redick isn’t worried about Doncic’s ability to handle all the extra pressure.
“I think he’ll be fine,” Redick said. “Every day that he’s been with us, it’s becoming a little more normal. I’ve been there, first time playing your old team, particularly with it being this close in a time duration, it’s gonna be weird. But he’ll be able to handle it.”
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