Dirk Nowitzki was on a tropical trip together with his household when he acquired phrase of the blockbuster commerce that despatched Luka Doncic to the Lakers.
The Mavericks legend spoke publicly Friday for the primary time because the Feb. 2 transfer that teamed Doncic in Los Angeles with LeBron James.
“When I saw the news I was actually all across on the other side of the world. I was on vacation with the family in the Maldives,” Nowitzki informed 96.7 The Ticket at an look in Plano, Texas.
“My phone just starts blowing up left and right and then I kind of looked on social media and I think I was as shocked and surprised as everyone was.”
Nowitzki, the sixth all-time main scorer in NBA historical past, performed all 21 seasons of his NBA profession with the Mavs, together with profitable the league title in 2011.
Nowitzki mentioned he exchanged textual content messages with the 25-year-old Doncic, a teammate throughout his last NBA season in 2018-19.
The Corridor of Famer additionally defined why he felt compelled to attend Doncic’s dwelling debut with the Lakers on Feb. 10 towards the Jazz.
“He invited me to come out to his first game in LA and I felt like I had to support him,” Nowitzki mentioned. “I felt like — you understand, I performed with him my final season, we’ve gotten shut.
I’ve tried to mentor him, I’ve tried to assist him as a lot as I can the previous few years and he’s child. So I felt like I needed to go on the market and help him on this new chapter.”
The 14-time All-Star admitted that it was “weird” and “surreal” to see Doncic in a Lakers uniform, including, “at the end of the day, you know I’ll never be a Lakers fan, but I’ll always be a Luka fan.”
Anthony Davis, who headlined the return package deal from the Lakers, appeared in a single sport for the Mavericks earlier than struggling a left adductor pressure that’s anticipated to sideline him for at the very least two extra weeks.
