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On an otherwise nonchalant Wednesday Night, there wasn't a hotter ticket in professional sports than the Los Angeles Lakers versus the Dallas Mavericks in Luka Doncic's big return to the American Airlines Center.
The crowd was white hot, fueled by a potent mixture of anger, sadness, and excitement, while their former “Wonder Boy” did his best to give them a show, tearing up at the organization's tribute video before going to work, scoring 45 points on 7-10 shooting from the field to go with eight rebounds, six assists, and three steals for good measure.
After the game, Doncic gave his initial review of returning to Dallas as a foe, not a friend, and left Mavericks fans with a message that likely won't make his exit much easier to swallow moving forward.
“I love these fans, I love this city, but it's time to move on,” Doncic declared.
Gosh, that is as straightforward as it is calculatedly brutal.
Doncic also commented on his 45-point effort, noting that he didn't even know how many points he scored; he was so locked into the moment.
“I don't know how I did it,” Doncic noted. “Because when I was watching that video, I was like, ‘There's no way I'm playing this game.'”
Now at this point, it's basically common knowledge that Doncic didn't want to be traded away from the Mavericks. Nico Harrison and company didn't like his workout habits, didn't like his hookah habits, and didn't believe that he could consistently reach his athletic ceiling in the pursuit of winning a championship. They believed that becoming a defense-first team with Anthony Davis as their top star was a more sustainable strategy in the short term, and they even traded away players like Quentin Grimes to add players who fit that mold, like Caleb Martin.
Could this strategy ultimately hold true? Will the Mavericks win the big one before the Lakers, even if AD seemingly has a much shorter runway than Doncic? While only time will tell, as Doncic prepares to leave the American Airlines Arena, the bitterness of his trade remains firmly in the mouths of the Mavericks faithful.
