Luka Doncic reflects on emotional first game in Dallas since trade to Lakers; "Now I can get some sleep"
Luka Doncic entered the court with the Los Angeles Lakers for his first game back in Dallas to cheers in an arena where draped over every seat was a T-shirt with "Hvala za vse" across the front.
That Slovenian phrase translates to "thank you for everything."
Then came the tribute, a video of Doncic's time with the Mavericks after the rest of the Lakers' starting lineup had been introduced Wednesday night before his first game back in Dallas.
That left Doncic alone on the bench for more than two minutes, looking up to some of his many highlights in Dallas, though he 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 onto the court with his teammates, who surrounded him, including several hugs.
"Everybody had my back from coaches to players," Doncic said after the game. "And, you know, we're trying to build something special here. And, and that was really, really nice to see."
Everyone knew it was going to be an emotional night with Doncic wearing his No. 77 jersey for the Lakers. It was for both the 26-year-old from Slovenia and those Mavericks fans who were there when he wore that number in Mavericks blue the first 5 1/2 seasons of his career.
Doncic said the emotions for his first game back started the night before; he had a hard time sleeping. When he arrived at the American Airlines Center, he said he was feeling a mix of "happy and angry."
"It's nice to see some familiar faces here. You know, I spent a lot of times with them. But ... it was a lot of emotions. When I woke up, I was tired ... I didn't sleep much. Just excited about this game. And I really appreciated the fans, the way they reacted to me," he said.
Right after tipoff, the chant "Fire Nico" broke out, directed toward Nico Harrison, the Mavericks general manager who traded Doncic. That chant got louder and longer in the first quarter, when Doncic already had 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
Doncic's return comes two months after that seismic trade out of nowhere. He had been the face of the Mavericks, and he was the NBA scoring champion last season when they made it to the NBA Finals. The 2019 rookie of the year had two seasons left on his contract before the trade the first weekend of February, in a package that brought Anthony Davis to Dallas.
"Honestly, I don't know about closure. It's obviously a lot," Doncic said after a loss at Oklahoma City on Tuesday night. "I know the fans are going to appreciate me being back here. Honestly, I don't know how I'm going to feel, but I'm just excited to be back."
Reflecting on Wednesday's game, Doncic said he did have a little more closure.
"I spent a lot of time here. Great moments. But ... I got to focus on different things now," he said.
That includes a push to a championship. With the win, the Lakers guaranteed themselves a playoff spot without needing to go through the NBA Play-In Tournament.