Emotional return for Luka Doncic and Mavericks fans in his 1st game at Dallas since trade to Lakers

Luka Doncic always knew it was going to be an emotional return to Dallas when wearing his No. 77 Los Angeles Lakers jersey in the place he called home the first 5 1/2 seasons of his NBA career.

Then the Mavericks showed a more than two-minute video tribute before he had even been introduced before his first game back Wednesday night, two months after being traded.

Doncic watched while sitting on the bench alone, with tears in his eyes and wondering if he would even be able to get through the game.

“After that video, I was like, there’s no way I’m playing this game,” Doncic said. “So many moments, and I just went out there and just played basketball.”

More than play, he had another Luka-like standout performance.

Doncic matched his season high with 45 points in a 112-97 victory that clinched a playoff spot for the Lakers. He already had 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting with three 3s in the first 10 1/2 minutes.

“It was a beautiful moment. I thought the video was great,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “But I think just his ability to then go perform, lights turn on, he’s teary-eyed still as we walk out on the court for the tip ball. To have the emotional resolve to then go put on that kind of performance, it’s superhuman.”

The other four Lakers starters had already been introduced as Doncic looked up to watch many highlights from his time in Dallas — from being the 2018-19 NBA rookie of the year to last year’s NBA Finals when he was the league scoring champion.

Doncic didn’t make it all the way through before putting his head down and wiping away tears. His eyes were still red once he was introduced and came on the court to be surrounded by his teammates and get several hugs.

The 26-year-old from Slovenia had thought he would spend his entire career in Dallas before that seismic trade out of nowhere the first weekend of February, a deal that brought Anthony Davis to Dallas.

“It was a little bit of both, happy and angry, but it’s nice to see some familiar faces here,” Doncic said about arriving at the American Airlines Center before Wednesday’s game. “It was a lot emotions. When I woke up, I was tired. Ain’t going to lie, I didn’t sleep much. Excited about this game. I really appreciate the fans, the way they reacted to me.”

There were loud cheers throughout the night, plus extended ovations when he was first introduced and then exited the game in the closing minutes. Draped over every seat in the arena was a T-shirt with “Hvala za vse” across the front — that Slovenian phrase translates to “Thank you for everything.”

Doncic called it an amazing and unbelievable experience, but one that he is happy to have done.

“Now I can get some sleep finally,” he said.

Right after tipoff, fans began chanting “Fire Nico” for the Mavericks general manager who traded Doncic. That chant got louder and longer in the first quarter, and repeated numerous times during the game, when Nico Harrison was seen standing just outside a tunnel.

Mavericks fans conducted a mock funeral outside the American Airlines Center on Feb. 2, right after news of the trade late the previous night. There have been protests and plenty of ire directed at Harrison, including “Fire Nico!” showing up on plenty of signs and T-shirts. The GM hasn’t spoken to the media since comments he made right after the deal was done.

While there were no organized protests outside the arena before the game, No. 77 jerseys were everywhere — both the purple and gold ones of the Lakers and blue Mavericks jerseys as well, though some of those home ones had the Dallas logo covered up. There were even some Slovenia jerseys.

One fan sitting a couple of rows behind the Dallas bench had a Mavericks No. 77 jersey, but had “Lakers” written on duct tape covering up the logo. A fan outside wore a Los Angeles jersey with duct tape covering the Lakers logo that read “Former Mavs fan.”

This wasn’t the first time Doncic played the Mavericks. He had a triple-double (19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists) in the Lakers’ 107-99 home win on Feb. 25, only 23 days after the trade.

Los Angeles is 21-12 since Doncic was acquired. The Lakers are 17-9 in the games he has played for them.

Dallas is 12-19 since the trade and Davis has played in only eight of those games (five wins). The 10-time All-Star missed six weeks after his dominant debut with the Mavs on Feb. 8, when he had 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks against Houston before coming up lame in the third quarter because of a groin injury.

“With A.D., we got traded for each other, so from now on, everybody’s going to compare us two,” Doncic said. “I think he’s an amazing player and I think is going to do really good in Dallas.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA