The NBA world is still feeling the shockwaves of the Luka Doncic trade and Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki has given his honest thoughts on the whole situation.
25-year-old Luka began has NBA career in Dallas in 2018-19, which just so happened to be the same year Nowitzki was finishing his career, so the pair share a rather special bond.
Dirk admitted he was just as shocked as the next person to learn of the trade – one that was orchestrated by Mavs General Manager Nico Harrison in secret.
“I think I was as shocked and surprised as anyone was. … I really couldn’t believe it,” Nowitzki told 96.7 The Ticket in Dallas on Friday of his reaction to learning of the trade.
It was reported that Harrison didn’t have as much belief in Luka as other people at the franchise, such as Dirk and Mark Cuban, did.
Nowitzki explained his text exchanges with Luka after it happened and how Doncic asked Nowitzki to come and support him in his first game in Los Angeles – which was a huge deal considering Dirk had never been to any game not involving the Mavs.
“Of course I felt a little disappointed and sad for him, you know. I think he obviously didn’t see this coming,” Nowitzki said. “So he invited me to come out to his first game in L.A., and I felt like I had to support him.
“I think he was — I mean it was reported that — he was pretty down and disappointed in how it went down, and so I wanted to be there for him, I wanted to be there for his family. … I’m sure he wanted to finish his career like I did.”
Mavs fans recently spoke to ESPN about how they’re feeling about the Luka trade.
“It almost feels like he died. Weird to say, but that’s kind of the void that was ripped away,” Garrett Bussey, longtime Dallas fan said.
Another fan, Carlos Garcia said, “The Mavs have always talked about caring about the fans and caring about the players and everything. And they just did Luka wrong with the way they talked about him, the way they handled this trade.”
READ MORE: Luka Doncic Admits He’s Feeling Like Himself With the Lakers