As Dallas Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison walked the tunnel before the team played. Los Angeles Lakers On Tuesday, fans praised him.
The only thing is that those fans wore purple and gold.
“Good deal, Nico!” one fan yelled. Another addition: “We love you, Nico!”
For the first time since Harrison shocked the NBA world on Tuesday Luka Donsic In exchange, the Lakers Anthony Davis In early February, Donsic faced his former team. As expected, it had a playoff feel.
Harrison cut his head. Heck, in a way, was Davis. Serbian music ran through the speakers of crypto.com arena when the injured Davis (adductor) was shot before the game. He helped lead the Lakers to the championship in 2020.
All eyes were in Donsic.
Before Tuesday’s game, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd called out Don Sick.” Game Plan: “Comparing him to Picasso.” And after the Lakers 107-99 Beat the Mavericks, Kyrie Irving Playing against his former teammates was “as troublesome as the s.”
Donsic played on fire and finished with his first triple double as a Laker, including 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. He also had three steels and two block shots.
But the Mavericks were willing to deal with the 25-year-old, widely considered a top three talent, and to be honest, embarrassingly, they played against his previous team. The experience left him exhausted, both mentally and physically.
“It’s going to take a while for the closure,” Donsic said. “That’s not ideal, but like I said, I’m happy that this game is over. There were a lot of emotions.”
Donsic did not fall asleep ahead of Tuesday’s game. Truly, everything in February was just a huge whirlwind. The five All-Stars and five All-NBA players who led the team to the NBA Finals last season seem to be the most talked about in all sports in recent weeks.
His conditioning was questioned. The Mavericks were doing something so unprecedented by swapping his caliber superstars at his age, so people wondered what Really It happened behind the scenes. Why did the Mavericks say goodbye to him in the world?
Kidd hopes Donsic won’t be dragged by either of them.
“Sometimes, I can’t listen to the noise,” Kidd said. “The great can block noise and overcome what is probably true or perhaps not true. Everyone has an angle. Everyone has a conspiracy theory.”
Kidd says Donsic will “be one of the best players in the world,” and despite questions about his coachability, the superstar has been doing well with constructive criticism, especially about his defense and pacing. He added.
“Sometimes, we ask as coaches, ‘Can we join the defensive side?'” Kidd said. “And he did. And he put us in the Western Conference Finals (2022), and we once again (2024) and once again in the Western Conference finals (2024) and once again in the finals (2024). He helped him get there, and he agreed to the challenge.
As for Doncic, he just put all his criticism on his spiritual message board. During the Lakers’ media day, Don Sic called out a negative chat about his conditioning about “motivation,” adding, “I know it’s not true.”
Above all, Doncic has focused on trying to find his rhythm after returning from the tension of the calf who bystanders who sidelined him in 22 games two weeks ago. After a rocky first game with the Lakers, Donsic looked like himself by winning Denver on Sunday, finishing with 32 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. And he put a lot of pressure on him against the Mavericks, and he shined again.
Tuesday’s match was a dogfight, with the score tied 91-91 midway through the fourth quarter. LeBron James He took over in the fourth quarter, scoring 16 of his 27 points in that period, giving the Lakers their 15th victory in the last 19 games. The James Don Chic connection was already thrilling, including going through the lanes to turn off the sculptures and destroying the defense with a cross-court pass and a great finish.
James is not a stranger to the massive game’s sentiment towards former teams and high pressure situations, but he was impressed by the way Donsic handled everything towards Tuesday.
“They went to the finals, everything,” James said. “He’s grown from a 18-19 year old child to a 25 year old man with a family and something like that. So you grow into a family with a franchise and you move ahead. Or from you when they move, it’s very emotional.
As for Doncic, the night was just weird.
Donsic said he didn’t see Harrison (who was in court) during the warm-up. However, Lakers fans tried to show thanks to him and chanted “Thank you, Nico” as Don Chick’s shot-free throw. Of course, Harrison isn’t that popular in Dallas. Mavericks fans are openly grieving the trade with their cas at the American Airlines Center and holding a sign that says “FireNico.”
One thing Donsic lamented after the game was how strange it was to play against his former teammates.
“It was so strange, the moment,” Donsic said. “I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing.”
After the game, Donsic called Irving “Hermano” or a Spanish brother. And Irving, who considered Don Sic’s kind of guardian after being traded with the Mavericks in February 2023, said he felt his ex-teammate in recent weeks.
“As a protective brother, I would look at him from afar and text him to make sure he was good,” said Irving, who had a game high of 35 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. said. “And when I saw him, I was hoping he would be on that hill, we want to call it, so we just get over rejection, or over anger. It can lead to hatred. Sometimes it can lead to uncertainty. I’m proud of him for the way he just went there and played.”
The sadness process is clearly still fresh for Don Chick.
He hasn’t overcome all the shock of it. In fact, Maverick, who swapped him, felt like a form of rejection he had never experienced before. Even a broken heart from a failed relationship transaction.
“That was not,” Donsic admitted.
But he took a big step on Tuesday. He’s moving ahead. He plays great. And now, a highly anticipated and difficult reunion between him and his previous team is behind him.
Kid likened Donsic’s journey to the train. No matter how big or stressful the Tuesday moment was, it disappeared in an instant.
The train continues to move.
And now Doncic needs to focus on the next stop.
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for Fox Sports. She previously featured a league of sports illustrations Los Angeles The era, Bay Area News Group and San Antonio Express News. Follow her on Twitter @Melissarolin.
Luka Donsic
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