Livescore
Luka Dončić released a letter to Dallas touting the city as a “special place” and Mavericks fans as “special fans” upon the news of his stunning trade to the Los Angeles Lakers.
His father Saša Dončić was considerably less subdued in his reaction to the Mavericks’ decision to deal away their 25-year-old franchise player and perennial MVP candidate. Saša Dončić, a former professional player and head coach in Slovenia, made his feelings known in a candid interview with Arena Sport Slovenia on Sunday.
Without naming names, he slammed the “hypocrisy” of Mavericks brass involved in the trade.
“I understand there comes a moment when you disagree with a certain philosophy — you don’t like this or that player, all good, get it,” Saša Dončić said, per Arena Sport translation.
“But I think that exactly this secrecy, or should I say from some individuals, maybe even hypocrisy, this hurts me personally. Because I think that Luka absolutely doesn’t deserve this.”
Saša echoed Luka’s professed love for Dallas while touting his charitable work in the city since joining the Mavericks from Europe in 2018.
“I feel like this is very unfair from some individuals because I know that Luka respected Dallas a lot,” Saša continued. “He respected the whole city, Dallas. Helped children. It was never a problem for him to go to hospitals and to — I don’t know, orphanages and to all these charity events.
Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison has been the Mavericks’ public face of the trade decision in multiple interview since the deal took place late Saturday. In an interview with ESPN, he justified the trade by declaring that “defense wins championships.”
“I believe that defense wins championships,” Harrison told ESPN. “I believe that getting an All-Defensive center and an All-NBA player with a defensive mindset gives us a better chance. We’re built to win now and in the future.”
Davis, 31, is a three-time blocks champion and a five-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection.
According to an ESPN report, Harrison was dissatisfied with Dončić’s conditioning, and there was ” extreme frustration throughout the organization about Doncic’s lackadaisical approach to diet and conditioning, which Mavs decision-makers believed negatively impacted his durability.”
Dončić has been sidelined for 19 games with a calf injury that he suffered on Christmas. Saša addressed the reports about Luka’s conditioning with Arena Sport.
“It wasn’t even a problem last year since, I am saying again — one individual said he’s not fit enough that he played, I don’t know, 100 games practically 40 minutes with two, three players constantly on him,” Saša said. “That he was beaten and you say such things about him. I feel that this is very unfair from certain individuals.
“You traded him. Stand by your actions. But don’t look for excuses, alibis and that’s it.”
Last season, Dončić played 37.5 minutes per game in 70 regular season games, then 40.9 minutes per game in 22 postseason games while leading the Mavericks to the NBA Finals.
Now, less than a season after leading the Mavericks to their first Finals appearance since 2011, Dončić will attempt to do the same for the Western Conference-rival Lakers.
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