Victor Wembanyama Sympathizes With Mavericks Fans After The Luka Doncic Trade

In a chat with the media during NBA All-Star weekend, Victor Wembanyama gave his thoughts on the trade that rocked the basketball world. Like many others, Victor was shocked by the move and says it's still the 'craziest' trade he's ever seen.

"What strikes me is how the Mavs fans are hurting, how they feel," said Wemby via Mike Curtis. "It's really something that I think was a strong emotion. Otherwise, I think the Mavs are still contenders, the Lakers are still contenders, so it's very competitive. We'll see how it goes but even two weeks after, it’s still the craziest trade I’ve ever seen.”

San Antonio is only a couple of hours south of Dallas, which is ground zero for the revolt against the Mavericks. This week, in light of the Luka Doncic trade, fans are in complete rebellion over the franchise, and specifically GM Nico Harrison, for trading away their favorite player.

They have staged protests outside the arena, assembled memorials for Luka all over the city, and have gotten tossed from games for daring to call for the GM's firing. The whole NBA world has taken notice of the outrage in Dallas and it's a testament to how important Luka Doncic was to that city and the people who lived there.

Luka, 25, was the engine of the Dallas Mavericks and he was at the center of everything they did. From 2018-February 2025, Doncic was one of the best players in the world as a 5x All-Star, 5 All-NBA player, and 2019 Rookie of the Year. But in a sudden and shocking move, the Mavericks traded the Slovenian star in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a future first-round pick.

Doncic was blind-sighted by the trade and he took it personally when the Mavericks publicly called out his conditioning and claimed he was pushing 300 pounds despite averaging 27.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game this season.

It was Mavericks, however, fans who felt the most betrayed by the deal. They had watched Luka grow up for seven years and then he was ripped away from them in the middle of the night. Some are more sympathetic toward their pain than others.

Young star Victor Webanyama isn't just sympathetic toward the Mavs fans; he's using the whole ordeal as an important lesson to apply to his career.

Watching from the sidelines, Victor got his first glimpse into the ugly side of the NBA business. Now he knows that no matter how good he is, he will never be truly safe from the trade block. Victor might eventually find himself in a similar situation as Luka if he fails to live up to expectations for the Spurs.

As for the Mavericks and Lakers, Victor isn't wrong when he says both teams are in a fair spot. The Mavericks, while injured, made away with one of the best defensive bigs in the NBA: Anthony Davis, a 9x All-Star, NBA champion, and 5x All-Defensive player. The Lakers won by adding Luka Doncic, a career 28.6 point-per-game scorer who can lead their team for the next 10 years or more.

They will both have to go through Victor Webanyama and the Spurs, who may not be much now, but who are quietly positioning themselves for a dominant future. Wmeby doesn't want to let the fans down and after seeing the reaction to the Luka trade, he knows that there's no time to lose on creating a championship team.