The Athletic has live coverage of Luka Dončić’s return to Dallas as a Laker
DALLAS — Draped across the 20,000 spectator seats inside American Airlines Center were t-shirts with the following message written in Slovenian, directed at the evening’s special guest.
“Hvala za vse,” which means “thank you for everything.”
Those shirts were mostly on the backs of the Mavericks faithful who adored Luka Dončić for 6 1/2 seasons — and still do — when Dončić sat alone on the Los Angeles Lakers bench Wednesday night, repeatedly wiping tears from his face with a towel, as a touching video tribute played for him during pregame introductions.
Luka Dončić was moved to tears while watching his tribute video from the Mavericks 🥹
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) April 9, 2025
Almost no one outside of Mavs general manager Nico Harrison’s office could have, up until the shocking news broke on Feb. 2, imagined any scenario where the people of Dallas were welcoming Slovenian-born superstar Dončić as part of the visiting team, or thanking him, or growing emotional with him as he was introduced as a member of the Lakers.
But that exact scenario is playing out Wednesday, with Dončić and the Lakers (a sequence of wording that still gives Mavs fans shivers) in Dallas for a game for the first time since the blockbuster trade from two long months ago.
“Some were comparing it to Babe Ruth (getting traded by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees), which is kind of cool,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said.
The Mavs chose to honor Dončić during introductions, instead of at the first in-game timeout. It was the proper thing to do, as Dončić, who never asked to be traded and said he wanted to play his entire career in Dallas, was overcome with emotion as his video played. When his name was finally called, and the crowd roared, Dončić slowly walked through the players’ line, with long embraces from Markieff Morris and LeBron James.
Reunion games are common these days in the NBA, but they’re never quite like this — when a player just entering his prime, with the talent, skills, intangibles and ties to a community gets traded against his wishes.
The crowd roared for Dončić’s first bucket, early in the first quarter, and erupted with “FIRE NICO” chants when the Lakers were at the foul line.
This Mavericks-Lakers game, on ESPN, is also a big deal because it features the other star in the Dončić deal, Anthony Davis, playing against his old team for the first time since the trade, and almost as an aside, both teams need to win for postseason positioning. A small footnote, James will pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the second-most games played (1,561 games) in NBA history.
All of those things take a back seat to the return of Dončić, a five-time All-Star, perennial MVP candidate, and 26-year-old who had already led the franchise to two Western Conference finals and the NBA Finals last season. A player like him, just entering his prime, simply is not traded.
But early on Feb. 2, news broke that the Mavericks traded Dončić, Maxi Kleber and Morris to the Lakers for Davis (a 10-time All-Star and 2020 champion with the Lakers), Max Christie and the Lakers’ first-round pick in 2029. Two franchises were changed forever.
“There will be a lot of emotions, I think, a chance for fans to say hi or say bye,” Kidd said. “Unfortunately with the trade, they didn’t get that opportunity. You’re talking about one of the best players in the world on one of the biggest stages, who’s always delivered.”
Lakers coach JJ Redick said his message to Dončić would be that his teammates and coaches “got your back.”
“Luka said it last night to me, I know he said it to you guys — he doesn’t even know how he’s gonna feel,” Redick said beforehand. “I think anybody who’s been in a place that means a lot to them and built relationships and felt really a part of the community, that first time back is always emotional and there’s no predicting how you’re gonna feel.”
Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki is expected to be in attendance for Dončić. He was there in Los Angeles when the Mavericks played the Lakers for the first time since the trade on Feb. 25.
The Lakers acquired the next face of their franchise in Dončić, already a co-standard bearer with James, who is near retirement. The Mavs say they restructured to win with defense, adding Davis to an already large frontcourt, and avoided a disruptive summer that would have followed when Dončić would have been eligible for a five-year, $345 million contract extension.
Dončić insists he was always prepared to sign and remain a Maverick for his entire career. It has become clear Harrison did not want to offer Dončić the extension, stating generally that some players are better fits culturally than others.
The trade was met with great anger from the Mavericks’ fan base; there were protests inside and outside American Airlines Center, with patrons calling for Harrison’s job. During the first few home games after the trade, fans protesting Harrison were removed from the arena.
When the Mavs traveled to Los Angeles for the first game between the two franchises since the trade (Davis was out that night with an injury), Laker fans thanked Harrison, who was in attendance, for making the trade. The Lakers won that game and Dončić scored 19 points against his old team, but his first trip to Dallas was always going to be the more emotional reunion because, well, this was home – a home he intended to keep.
“When you look at just the business of sports, change happens,” Kidd said. “When change happens, it’s the ones who carry on and keep moving forward — those are the special people. Fans are gonna be fans, they have a right to boo, they have a right to cheer. Hope is still in that locker room. AD is not a bad player — I think he’s a top 75 player (of all time) if I recall.”
The Lakers were in fourth place at the time of the trade and entered play Wednesday in third in a tight Western race. A win over the Mavs would clinch a playoff spot. Dallas was in ninth place when the deal went down and entered Wednesday’s game in 10th. A win over the Lakers would secure a spot in the Play-In, which, really, would be a win for the franchise given that Kyrie Irving went down to a torn ACL on March 3.
Dončić entered play averaging 27.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 7.6 assists in 26 games for the Lakers. Davis was averaging 20.6 points and 9.6 boards in seven games for Dallas. He was injured during his Mavs debut on Feb. 8 and missed the next 18 games.
“I’m forever grateful to AD for our relationship as player-coach and him allowing a first-year coach, a guy who’s never coached outside of 9- and 10-year-olds, to actually coach him,” Redick said. “And I thought we had a terrific working relationship and a terrific rapport and I’ve expressed that to him — my gratitude for that. It was a pleasure to be around every single day and, yeah, I think regardless of if we had five bigs or if we have one big like we currently do in our rotation he’s gonna give you nightmares. Like, he’s that good, he’s one of the best players ever and you certainly have to scheme for him.”
This story will be updated.
(Photo: Zach Beeker / Getty Images)
