Almost two weeks ago — on a night when Dallas Mavericks fans were protesting the Luka Doncic trade, calling for GM Nico Harrison to be fired and booing team governor Patrick Dumont — it was both stunning and telling that the greatest Maverick of all time was a couple of thousand miles away, watching Doncic make his Lakers debut.
Nowitzki had posted on X about his decision, but spoke more about it during an appearance at a 96.7 The Ticket in Dallas event this week.
Dirk on his text exchange with Luka Doncic following the trade:
“He invited me to come out to his first game in LA… He was pretty down & disappointed on how it went down, so I wanted to be there for him.”
“But you guys saw my face…it was weird.” pic.twitter.com/MGEUkI9fXH
— Michelle Montaine (@michmontaine) February 22, 2025
“Obviously Luka, we texted a bit. I felt a little disappointed and sad for him. He obviously didn’t see this coming. He invited me to come out to his first game in L.A. and I felt like I had to support him. I felt like I played with him in my last season. We got close. I tried to mentor him, I tried to help him as much as I can in the last few years.
“He’s a good kid, so I felt like I had to go out there and support him in this new chapter. It was reported that he was pretty down and disappointed how it went down, so I wanted to be there for him. I wanted to be there for his family and show support. You guys saw my face, it was weird. It was surreal to see him play for the Lakers. I’ll never be a Lakers fan but I must always be a Luka fan.”
I will always be a Mav for life, but had to come support my guy 77 @luka7doncic in the first game of his new chapter!
— Dirk Nowitzki (@swish41) February 11, 2025
The biggest miscalculation by the Dallas front office and ownership through all of this was not understanding the depth of anger this would generate within the Mavericks’ fan base. Luka was their guy and had been ever since the draft night trade that brought him to Dallas. Fans were invested in him, watched him grow as a player, saw him be active in the community, and everything was starting to pay off with a trip to the NBA Finals last season. The NBA is an entertainment business — there’s a reason “Game of Thrones” didn’t kill off Tyrion Lannister or “Friends” didn’t have Chandler Bing transferred to Seattle. You don’t get rid of the people fans love.
But Doncic wasn’t Harrison’s guy.
Doncic is Nowitzki’s guy and always will be.
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