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Luka Doncic Angry With Mavericks After 'Unfounded' Anonymous Attacks

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Sean Deveney | Last updated Feb 3, 2025 8:26 AM ET

One of the strangest and most profound trades in the history of the NBA went down over the weekend, with the Mavericks shipping out 25-year-old superstar Luka Doncic for 31-year-old star big man Anthony Davis of the Lakers, a move that was conducted almost entirely in secret and did not hit the rumor mill until it was completed.

While Davis is an excellent big man and a future Hall of Famer, Doncic has established himself as a one of the best two or three young talents in the league, having led Dallas to the NBA Finals last year and registering career averages of 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists, while making six All-Star teams in seven years.

In the wake of Doncic's trade to the Lakers, ESPN's Mavericks mouthpiece Tim MacMahon reported that the star's "constant conditioning issues and concerns" were a motivating factor for the deal. MacMahon reported that Doncic got up to 260 pounds this season.

The trade is one thing, and caught Doncic by surprise. But according to a person close to Doncic, the new Lakers star is angry about the way he's been treated as he has been ushered out the door.

"All this stuff is unfounded," the person said. "They made a bad trade and they need to find a scapegoat, and so they will throw mud at Luka. They did the same thing to (Jalen) Brunson. They were trashing him, he is too small, he wanted too much money. How'd that work out? Now, they're doing it to Luka.

"It says a lot more about the Dallas Mavericks than it does about Luka."

That came on the heels of a rant from Doncic's father, Sasa Doncic, speaking on Arena Sport in Slovenia (translation from Arena Sport) while the Mavs got clobbered on Sunday by the Cavaliers, 144-101.

Luka’s dad about the trade #nba #lukadoncic #lukadoncictrade pic.twitter.com/muWUDKaxlT
— Arena Sport Slovenija (@ArenaSport_SI) February 2, 2025

"There comes a moment when you disagree with a certain philosophy, you don’t like this or that player—that’s all good. I get that. But I think that exactly this secrecy, or should I say from some individuals, hypocrisy, it hurts me personally," he said. "Because I think Luka absolutely doesn’t deserve this, given the fact that, at least as I know, sacrificed himself enormously and even all the stories now that someone is releasing ...

"I am saying again, one individual who was fit enough that he played 100 games, practically 40 minutes, with two, three players constantly on him that he was beating. And you say such things about him. I feel that this is very unfair from certain individuals."

Doncic said the Mavs should simply defend the trade they made, rather than tear down his son.

"Stand by your actions. But don’t look for excuses or alibis," he added.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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