The fallout over the Luka Doncic trade continues.
Tuesday night, Doncic and his new team, the Los Angeles Lakers, hosted the Dallas Mavericks at the Crypto.com Arena in L.A. Although it was not a return to Dallas for the former Mavericks star, it did have the potential to reopen some healing wounds.
The Lakers would beat the Mavs 107-99 and advance to a 35-21 record. As he told reporters, Doncic was more relieved about the game being over than anything.
"It was just a lot of emotions and not much sleep," he said. "I can't even explain it. It was a different game. ... Sometimes I don't know what I was doing. And I'm just glad it's over, honestly."
The former Dallas Mavericks star was on the court for 35 minutes total and had 19 points and 15 rebounds, and can now move on a bit after the dramatic trade from 3 weeks ago.
Still, the Mavericks have mentioned their former star player in the press lately and alluded to why they went forward with the trade.
In a report by The Athletic's Sam Amick that centers around Doncic and the trade to the Lakers, the Mavericks apparently had an issue with his extracurricular activities off the court, such as enjoying a nice cold beer and smoking some hookah.
"Make no mistake, the people who witnessed Dončić's last days in Dallas do not paint a flattering portrait of the 25-year-old's professionalism," the report states. They call him lazy. They talk about the weight issues that were such a frequent frustration within their walls."
It's clear that this trade may not have been too far out of left field for the Mavs, who seemingly did not agree with their star player and how he conducted himself in his private life.
This could be a PR move by the Mavs, as they're the targets of a lot of backlash from their fans right now.
Doncic showed Tuesday night that he can move on as he dropped his first triple-double as a Laker against his old team. The question now remains: Can the Mavs maybe try to save face after the whole ordeal, too?
