During an interview with NBA reporter Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News, Dallas Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont insinuated that Luka Doncic didn’t work hard.
The Mavericks shocked the NBA world by trading Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis and Max Christie.
“If you look at the greats in the league, the people you and I grew up with — [Michael] Jordan, [Larry] Bird, Kobe [Bryant], Shaq [O’Neal] — they worked really hard, every day, with a singular focus to win,” Dumont said. “And if you don’t have that, it doesn’t work. And if you don’t have that, you shouldn’t be part of the Dallas Mavericks. That’s who we want. I’m unwavering on this. The entire organization knows this. This is how I operate outside of basketball. This is the only way to be competitive and win. If you want to take a vacation, don’t do it with us.”
Doncic appeared in 422 games with the Mavericks. He averaged 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists and made five All-Star teams and five All-NBA teams.
“It’s hard to make tough decisions,” Dumont said. “And it’s hard to make the right decisions when they’re tough. And it’s easy to do nothing. But when you want to pursue excellence in an organization, you have to make the tough decisions and stand by them and keep going.”
Doncic led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season.
The Boston Celtics beat Dallas in five games.
A future Hall of Famer, Doncic played in 22 games for the Mavericks this season. He averaged 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists while shooting 46.4% from the field, 35.4% from beyond the arc and 76.7% from the free-throw line.
“Look, I think there’s a lot of things that come into play when you decide the roster of the team,” Dumont said. “And culture is very important. That’s what we’re focused on.”
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