Dallas Mavericks fans' hearts all broke at once late into the night on February 1 when Luka Doncic was blindsided and traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis. Mavericks fans thought that they'd never see Doncic wear another team's jersey after spending the first six and a half seasons of his career in Big D, and things got even more real over the weekend as Doncic inked a three-year extension with the Lakers.
It was expected that Doncic was going to remain in Los Angeles, as he is already showing the Lakers the same loyalty that he had given to Dallas ever since he was an 18-year-old teenager who had just moved to the United States, and Doncic's camp just dropped a message (subscription required) that every Mavs fan wished they had never heard.
"He's moved on," Doncic's business manager Lara Beth Seager told Dan Woike of The Athletic regarding how Doncic feels about his ending of his time with the Mavericks.
Luka Doncic is leaving Dallas in the rearview mirror
After seeing Doncic break down in tears during his return to Dallas in April, Mavericks fans dreamed of a world where he would return one day. Doncic gave his all to Dallas, and after making the NBA Finals for the first time in his career in 2024, it seemed like the Mavs had finally broken through and become a true contender for years to come. They destroyed the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals, and even though they lost to the Boston Celtics in five games, they showed signs that they were going to be an NBA powerhouse.
Thanks to Luka Doncic.
Doncic had played the best basketball of his career in the 2023-24 season, and the taste of the Finals made him hungry for more. He never cared about individual awards, and even though he came short and placed third in MVP voting, he was an absolute animal in the NBA Playoffs and led the Mavericks to the promised land.
He just wanted to win the NBA Finals and bring a title to Dallas. Now, Mavericks fans are going to have to live with seeing him bring that same fire to the Lakers for the next few years and potentially longer.
In Woike's own words, Seager said that Doncic is " no longer carrying any baggage from his exit from Dallas."
As hard as that time was for him, he isn't worried about what he had with the Mavericks and everything he gave the franchise and the city anymore. Of course, he'll always have a special place in his heart for the place that he called home for the beginning of his NBA career, but just as Seager said, he has moved past his time there and is fully focused on his new life in Tinseltown.
His contract extension with the Lakers further emphasizes that, and hearing that Doncic has fully let go is a major thorn in Mavs fans' sides. The only time that they expected to hear this was when talking about him getting over a tough playoff loss and shifting his focus ahead to the following season, not him signing a new deal with the Lakers to spend his prime there.
Mavericks fans are being forced to accept the harsh reality that Doncic is happy in Los Angeles, his new home, and his love for Dallas may never look the same again.
