Luka Doncic released an emotional farewell to Dallas on Sunday, the same day a trade sending him from the Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers in a swap for fellow All-NBA player Anthony Davis was finalized.
Doncic said in a letter to the city that he “wanted so badly to bring you a championship” and that he thought he’d spend his career in Dallas.
“For a young kid from Slovenia coming to the U.S. for the first time, you made North Texas feel like home,” Doncic wrote. “In good times and bad, from injuries to the NBA Finals, your support never changed. Thank you not only for sharing my joy in our best moments, but also for lifting me up when I needed it most.”
Doncic was enormously popular in Dallas — and everywhere else. His No. 77 Mavericks jersey ranked eighth among best-sellers through NBAStore.com over the first half of the season. On Sunday night, some Doncic items remained for sale on the Mavs’ shopping site.
His jersey sales will likely skyrocket again now, when the Lakers make his new ones available.
“Grateful for this amazing opportunity,” Doncic wrote in another social media post, linking it to one from the Lakers’ accounts welcoming him to Los Angeles. “Basketball means everything to me, and no matter where I play the game, I’ll do so with the same joy, passion and goal — to win championships.”
The deal sent shockwaves throughout the basketball world.
Milwaukee Bucks forward and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo said he thought it was fake news when he first heard.
“It’s insane. This is the world we’re living in. It’s a business. You have to understand this. Nobody’s safe,” he said. “But at the same time, it goes both ways. You cannot have a double standard here. When teams make the best moves for them and they believe that they can get another player to win now, when a player believes that he can go to a different team and he believes he can have a chance to win a championship, we cannot crucify the person and say that he’s not loyal and he didn’t do the right thing and he let everybody down.”
Cleveland center Tristan Thompson chimed in on X.
“Luka getting traded from Dallas has to have a deeper story behind it. This just doesn’t happen on a random Saturday night.”
Sasa Doncic, Luka’s father, weighed in on Slovenian television Sunday.
“Luka absolutely did not deserve this. He sacrificed a lot. He really respected Dallas. Luka respected the whole city,”said Sasa.
Doncic had built deep ties to Dallas off the floor, including through many charitable organizations. He had given large sums of money to various entities in North Texas and arranged for Jordan Brand sneakers — he represents the brand — to be given to frontline workers in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The appreciation was mutual. When Doncic led Slovenia to a berth into the Tokyo Olympics that were held in 2021, Dallas County Commissioners declared July 6 of that year as “Luka Doncic Day” in celebration of both his on- and off-court accomplishments.
In only 422 games, he ranks sixth on Dallas’ all-time scoring list, is second in 3-pointers in Mavs history behind only Dirk Nowitzki, is third on the club list in rebounds and fifth in assists.
“To all the organizations I’ve worked with throughout the Dallas community, thank you for letting me contribute to your important work and join you in bringing light to those who need it,” Doncic wrote. “As I start the next part of my basketball journey, I am leaving a city that will always feel like a home away from home. Dallas is a special place, and Mavs fans are special fans.”
