Dallas looked different on Wednesday. The city sparkled as Luka Doncic took center stage. And soon, those glittering eyes turned misty when the Mavs’ tribute video hit hard. Luka couldn’t hold back the tears either. Clearly, the wounds are still fresh. After all, it’s only been two months since he became a Laker. But he’s trying. Trying his best to move on from that haunting trade. However, his close ones? They are not yet ready to forgive. They may have stayed quiet, but their actions against Mavs GM Nico Harrison spoke louder.
The night was special for more than one reason. It wasn’t just Luka Doncic’s homecoming. Exactly six years ago, Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki played his final game at the American Airlines Center. He was back, sitting courtside. But something was different. When the discussion popped up on The Hoop Collective, Tim MacMahon shared some first-hand insight about Luka Doncic’s inner circle. “Rob Pelinka, boy, he was strutting around courtside last night. By the way, sitting right next courtside, right next to Lara Beth Seager, Luka’s longtime business manager, Dirk Nowitzki, his publicist before that. And Bill Duffy, two people who I did not see greet Nico Harrison yesterday,” the Dallas reporter stated. And where was Nowitzki?
Not courtside, as Tim MacMahon pointed out. “Dirk, the man whose the inscription on a statue says ‘loyalty never fades away.’ Dirk was in the building last night for the first time since the trade,” he said. “His first time back at the American Airlines Center, sat up in a suite with some Amazon folks… It’s the second NBA game that Dirk has attended since the start of February.” The first? In Los Angeles, to watch Luka Doncic’s debut as a Laker. “So Dirk didn’t say a word to anybody on the record,” the ESPN insider noted. “But his actions spoke pretty loudly.”
Doncic’s business manager, Seager, and agent, Duffy, keeping their distance from Nico wasn’t all that surprising after how the star was treated. But eyebrows were raised when the franchise legend, Nowitzki, chose to sit with the Amazon group instead of aligning with the team. Dirk hasn’t openly criticized the trade, but his silence has been enough to tell the story. Skipping previous home games and showing up only when Doncic arrived, quietly sent a clear message that he’s not on board with how things went down.
A picture featuring an emotional Luka Doncic
It’s not shocking, though. Like many fans, Nowitzki believed Luka to be his successor, the one who could bring the Mavericks back to glory. But Nico Harrison and the team’s majority owner, Patrick Dumont, had other plans. With tensions already on edge, Jason Kidd found himself in the middle of another stir.
Tensions rise after Jason Kidd draws bold comparison to Luka Doncic trade
Luka Doncic’s trade to the Lakers shocked everyone. It caught the entire league off guard, sparking a fear that no one was safe. And for the Mavericks? It felt like a curse. Their starters hit the injury report, and fans erupted, demanding GM Nico Harrison’s firing. No matter how big of a star Anthony Davis is, losing Doncic left a huge hole in the roster. Dallas Nation still can’t move past it. Amid the chaos, Jason Kidd made a bold statement, one that ended up backfiring.
Before facing the Lakers, Jason Kidd spoke to reporters about the whole Doncic situation and how it affected the fans. But he may have gone a little too far, and possibly without knowing the full story. “With Luka there’s a lot of hope. This is a business. It happens right? Trades happen. This won’t be the last trade. Some have compared it to Babe Ruth which is kinda cool,” Kidd said. He tried to downplay the shock by framing it as just another part of the NBA business, which, to be fair, isn’t wrong. But the casual mention of the Babe Ruth comparison, calling it “kinda cool,” completely ruined his case.
Full pregame quote from Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, who said that “some have compared it to Babe Ruth, which is kind of cool” regarding the Luka Doncic trade to the Lakers: pic.twitter.com/vJlXZBEqQ2
— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) April 9, 2025
MacMahon clarified on the podcast, “Ja Kidd was trying to do was to take a shot at around the horn legend, Tim Cowlishaw, longtime Dallas Morning News columnist. His column the day before, the headline was, as Luke returns to AAC, Mav’s tragic trade has become disaster of Babe Ruthian proportions.”
Basically, what Tim Cowlishaw did was to state that the Mavericks’ recent struggles weren’t as bad as the infamous Babe Ruth trade, which if you didn’t know had turned the baseball world upside down. Back in 1919, the Red Sox sold the star to the Yankees for a lump sum amount. And just like that, their luck vanished. Boston didn’t win another World Series for 86 years, while the Yankees basically turned into a championship factory.
Instead of calming fans down, Kidd’s comment would only add fuel to the fire. Of course, that probably wasn’t his intention as he wouldn’t want to wait decades for a shot at the Larry O’Brien Trophy, especially now, as this might be the only thing that could shift the fans’ mindset.
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