"Weird" and "emotional": Luka Dončić is glad that his gathering Mavs behind him

Melissa Rohl

Fox Sports NBA Vriter

As Dallas Mavericks Nico Harrison’s director passed through the tunnel before his team played Los Angeles Lakers The fans praised him on Tuesday.

The only thing that fans carried purple and golden.

“Good trade, Nico!” shouted one fan. He added another one: “We love you, Nico!”

On Tuesday, for the first time, because Harrison shocked the NBA world to deal with Luka Doncic on the leiser in exchange for Anthony Davis At the beginning of February, Dončić played against his former team. As expected, it was an atmosphere like a playoffs.

Harrison kidnapped. Hell, in a way, Davis was also Davis. How was injured-davis shooting around the games, Serbian music pierced the speakers at the Crypto.com, the player in his house, in Los Angeles, Helping Leikers in 2020 . years. (Dončić, of course, happened to warm as Davis on the other side of the court at the same time.)

All eyes were on Doncy.

Before the game on Tuesday, Mavericks Coach Jason Kidd called Doncic “The Game planning, “Attacking him” Picasso. “And after lachers” 107-99 Win Pre-Maverika, Kirie Irving He admitted that playing against his former teammate “awkwardly as I – t.”

Doncic played with fire, ending his first triple double as Laker, including 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. He also had three steals and two blocked shots.

But the experience of playing against his former team just over three weeks after being completely stunned – and, honestly, unpleasant – that Mavericks were ready to deal with a 25-year-old stay that it stopped that it became exhausted, both mentally and physically.

“Closing will take a while, I mean,” Doncic said. “It’s not ideal. But, like I said, I’m glad this game is over. There was a lot of emotion.”

Doncic did not sleep much in front of the match on Tuesday. Really, all February was just a giant whirlwind. The five-time star and five-bed-NBA player, who led her team last season in the NBA final, was apparently sweetest about the player in all sports for the last few weeks.

His conditioning has questioned. Mavericks did something so unseen so trading a superstar of your caliber in his age to leave people to wonder what indeed It happened behind the scene. Why were the Hungarians in the world willing to separate with him?

Kidd hopes Dončić will not distract any of that.

“Sometimes you can’t listen to noise,” Kidd said. “Big can block the noise and overcome what may be true or what may not be true. Everyone has an angle, everyone has conspiracy theory.”

Kidd said Dončić “to be one of the best players in the world”, adding it despite any issues on his training, Superstar took a good time of constructive criticism, especially about his defense and fencern language.

“Sometimes we ask as a coach,” can you participate in the defensive end? “” Kidd said. “And it is. And he set us in the Western Conference Final (2022), we helped us to reach Western Conference again (2024), and then the finals (2024). Only understanding, can we play faster? He agreed. He was ready for that challenge and played faster. He likes to be trained. He likes to tell him. “

As for Doncic, he just put all criticism on his mental bilthethic board. During the media day Lakers, Dončić called negative chat on his conditioning “motiva”, adding “, I know it’s not true.”

More than anything, Dončić was focused on trying to find his rhythm after returning two weeks from Soy Calf, which rewarded him based on 22 games. After the rocky first pair of games with Lakers, Dončić seemed to win Denver on Sunday, ends with 32 points, 10 rebounds and seven helpers. And against Maverik, with so much pressure on him, it shone again.

The match on Tuesday was a dog, with a scene related to 91-91 Midway through the fourth quarter. Lebron James They took over in the fourth quarter, scoring 16 of their 27 points during that period to give the challengers their 15th. Win in the last 19 games. James-Dončić Connection is already exciting and involved to exclude carving through strips and interfere with defense with transitional passages and great mappings.

James, who is not a stranger on emotions of huge matches against former teams or high pressure situations, was an impressed way in which Doncić dealt with everyone on Tuesday.

“They went to the finale, all those things,” James said. “He grew up from the 18-year-old child to a 25-year-old man with his family and all those things out in a family with a franchise and when you are moving, it is obviously very emotional. It is very taxable . It is probably a lot of things that happened in his head that probably didn’t even include the game. And he said that it was contracted and I thought it was contracted. “

As for Doncy, the night was only strange.

Doncic said he did not see Harrison (who stood in court) during the purse. But Lakers fans were sure they showed him gratitude for him, singing “Thanks, Nico” as Doncic recorded a free pitcher. Harrison, of course, is not so popular in Dallas, where the Mavericks fans openly mourned the trade by bringing a suitcase to the American Airlines Center and holding a sign that “Fire Nico”.

One thing Doncic did in Smon after the game was as strange to feel that he was playing against his former teammates.

“It was just so weird, moments,” Doncic said. “I feel like I didn’t know what I was doing.”

After the game, Doncic called Irving his “Hermano” or his brother in Spanish. And Irving, who thought to Sortic for Doncic after trading Maveric in February 2023. year, said he felt for his former teammate for the last few weeks.

“As a protective brother, I just watched him from afor, sending him texts, as far as he was good,” Irving said, who had 35 points, seven rebounds and four assists. “And when I saw him, I expected it over that hill, as we like to call it, just overcoming anger. Sometimes it can lead to hate. Sometimes it can lead to hate . Sometimes it can lead to uncertainty. I’m just proud of him because of the way he just went there and played. “

The process of suing is obviously even fresh for Dončić.

Everything is not because of the shock of everything. In fact, Mavericks who traded felt like a form of rejection he had never had before experience. Even no heart from failed relationships could be compared to Trade.

“It was different,” Doncic admitted.

But Tuesday took a big step. He moves on. The game is great. And now, highly expected and crowded gatherings between him and his former team is behind him.

Kidd warned Doncic’s trip on the train. No matter how big or stressful moment she looked on Tuesday, it was missing in the flashes.

The train continues to move.

And now Dončić must focus on the next station.

Melissa Rohlin is a writer of NBA for Fox Sports. She has previously covered the league for illustrated sports, the Los Angeles Times, news about the flow in the Gulf San Antonio Express-West. Follow it on Twitter @Melissarohl.

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