It’s been two months already since the unthinkable took place within the basketball world.
In what is undisputedly the most stunning trade ever in NBA history, the Dallas Mavericks decided to cut their ties with Luka Doncic, sending the franchise superstar to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package headlined by Anthony Davis.
Widely regarded as a generational talent who was the driving force of the ball club’s 2024 NBA Finals run, Doncic leaving Dallas was simply perplexing, leaving many to offer scathing public criticism, including the Mavs fanbase.
The majority view the Lakers as the clear winners of this deal, providing the entire organization its next face to follow LeBron James.
As for the Mavericks, Doncic’s exit cascaded a roller coaster of events for the franchise for the remainder of the season from winning struggles and Kyrie Irving’s brutal ACL injury.
While it seems that both sides are finally settled now following their shocking trade with Doncic enjoying the most out of his new chapter in LA, everyone remains critical of what Mavericks GM Nico Harrison did in the first place.
Ever since it all happened, Harrison instantly emerged as the public enemy No. 1 for being the man responsible of dealing Doncic away. While team governor Patrick Dumont deserves a fair share of criticism, the Mavericks general manager is the one who orchestrated the trade with the Lakers, that even left Rob Pelinka out of words.
It’s been perceived that the primary reason behind Dallas’ decision to trade Doncic is related to health and off-court habits.
And for Mark Cuban, the belief that Harrison holds about this is simply unreasonable, due to ther Slovenian phenom’s cultural background.
“It wasn’t like he was ripped and had a six-pack, but I think the biggest mistake in trying to understand Luka, he’s from the Balkans, he’s Slovenian,” the former Mavericks majority owner said in his appearance on the Stephen A. Smith Show.
“You look at Jokic who is Serbian, there’s just a different mindset.
“They look at the game differently, they look at life differently. The guys that I’ve gotten to know from that region of the world are different, and that was not considered as fully as it could have been.
“You’ve got to understand what people are like, what their backgrounds are like, what their families are like, how they interact with other people. And that part of the world in my experience, Luka apart from the basketball talent, he was just like every other guy. That’s one of the reasons he loves to play with the Slovenian team. He relates so well to all the players in that part of the world, in the summers that’s who he’s hanging out with.”
There has been an existing significant concern around Doncic about his conditioning.
Despite this, he continues to maintain himself as one of the best players in the world who holds a career average of 28.6 points, 8.6 boards, and 8.2 assists.
Now at age 26, Doncic is already decorated with tons of accolades since entering the league in 2018, becoming a five-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA First Team member.
Cuban himself has his own perception regarding this mega deal that took place for the Mavericks. But he himself can’t fully understand why Harrison and the rest of the franchise leadership didn’t consider Doncic’s life outside basketball before committing the trade.
“I don’t think he really took the time to understand that and I think that led to this decision, underpinned his decision, lack of attention to that issue, and here we are,” Cuban said of Harrison.
“The culture you grow up in makes a difference in who you are, as a professional in any sport, or business person in that matter.”
The Mavericks might not accept who he is, which is painful considering that he viewed Dallas as his home for seven years, but Doncic couldn’t care less about it now as he is being warmly embraced in LA already.
