Luka Doncic has once again opened up about the blockbuster trade that sent him from the Mavericks to the Lakers, admitting the move left him stunned and unsure of how to respond. Speaking recently, the 26-year-old guard said he struggled with balancing his love for Dallas while also embracing his new home in Los Angeles.
“I didn’t know how to react, what to say… it was a lot of shock,” Doncic said in a chat with the Wall Street Journal. “I felt Dallas was my home; I had many friends there. The fans always supported me. I didn’t want to upset Dallas fans, and I didn’t want to upset Lakers fans.”
It’s been months since the trade that made Luka a Laker, but the shockwaves of that move are still reverberating across the league. Not only did it expose the ugly truth behind Luka’s tenure in Dallas, but it also uprooted him from the only place he’d ever known in the NBA. Being traded without warning left Doncic utterly shocked, and it’s clear that there are still some lingering feelings on how it went down.
Like other legends who came before him (notably Dirk Nowitzki), Luka was ready to stay loyal to one team and become the hero to deliver them a title. Loyalty was everything to him, and he relished the challenge of winning it all in the place where it started. So when he was abruptly exiled from the franchise, it served as a wake-up call that influenced the rest of his career.
In his first 28 games as a Laker, Luka showed remarkable effort in assimilating his game. In unfamiliar surroundings, he still managed to put up 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game on 43.8% shooting.
To follow it up, he represented his home country of Slovenia in EuroBasket 2025, showcasing his hard work in the offseason to get into prime shape. His new form has been the story of the summer, and his growth as a leader has been on full display.
Regarding his loyalty, it belongs to the Lakers now. While he was ready and willing to build a future in Dallas, he has fully embraced his new life as the face of basketball in Los Angeles and has set ambitious goals for his tenure with the franchise. Alongside LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and Deandre Ayton, Doncic can make the Mavericks regret ever trading him.
Ultimately, Doncic had to contain his emotions after the big trade. As much as he wanted to express his shock and frustration at the Mavericks, he didn’t want to give off a bad impression for his new team. Now that he’s locked in for the foreseeable future, he can speak freely about the past without any doubts about his plans.
For Luka, the shock of leaving Dallas will always be part of his story, but it doesn’t define him anymore. What matters now is what he does in purple and gold, and if he delivers a championship in Los Angeles, that trade will be remembered less as a betrayal and more as the turning point that unlocked the best version of himself.
