Jason Kidd gets brutally honest about the Luka Doncic trade
DALLAS — The annual anniversary Dallas Mavericks – Los Angeles Lakers shock the Luka Doncic trade is February 1st. On Saturday, January 24, Doncic returned to Dallas for the second time since that trade. Before the game, the head coach of the Mavs Jason Kidd was asked about the trade exactly one year after it happened.
“It’s been one year. Next year it’ll be two years. After that it’ll be three,” Kidd he told reporters. “We’ll just keep counting. Luka moved on. We moved on… We wish him the best, but that’s the thing about basketball. We have to move forward.”
No one expected what happened last year. It was a shocking move that was announced in the middle of the night. It’s still hard to believe the trade even happened.
Still, here we are. Of course, both Doncic and the Mavs moved forward. Doncic is an All-Star starter and playing at an MVP-caliber level, while the Mavericks are poised for rookie phenom Cooper Flagg to lead the way for years to come.
However, for Dončić, the return to Dallas will surely mean the rest of his career. In fact, Lakers head coach JJ Redick echoed that exact sentiment before the game on Saturday night.
“The significance of this will probably be there for the rest of his career,” Redick told reporters.
Dončić expected to spend his entire career with the Mavericks. Last year’s turnaround surprised everyone. Nevertheless, Dončić goes on and plays one of the best basketball in his career.
The fans in Dallas sure still miss him, though.
Luka Doncic returned to Dallas and received a LOUD ovation from the fans pic.twitter.com/Sz9frHgBFh
— Joey Mistretta (@JoeyMistretta_) January 25, 2026
2026-01-25 01:42:00
