Kyrie Irving admits he was ’emotional’ and ‘struggled’ after Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to Lakers

March 24, 2025

NBA champion Kyrie Irving admits he was “emotional” and “struggled” after the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Mavericks shocked the NBA world by trading Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis.

“But bringing that sh*t to life and some of the things that were going on in Dallas, like the casket, the ‘Fire Nico’ chants and these unfortunate situations where you’re attacking someone who’s just performing a function of the business, that was emotional,” Irving said during a live Twitch stream. “It was emotional for a lot of people and it was emotional for me too. I ain’t gonna lie to you, I struggled a little bit the first few days. But after a while, you get to where you are by making some incredible moves. And mind you, everybody’s going to have their opinion about what we should’ve done or what we should’ve did. But we can only deal with what we’re doing now.”

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.

Irving and Doncic led Dallas to the NBA Finals last season, where the Boston Celtics won in five games.

Doncic was eligible to sign a five-year, $345 million extension with the Mavericks this offseason. According to The Athletic, Dallas wasn’t going to offer Doncic the supermax extension.

The Lakers can offer Doncic a four-year, $229 million extension this offseason, or, like other teams, a five-year, $296 million contract in the offseason of 2026.

Irving, who is out for the rest of the season with an ACL tear, wants Mavericks fans to continue to support the team despite the Doncic trade.

“I know we’ve dealt with a lot,” Irving said. “I know we’ve been going through a lot. But please, just stick with us. Understand that we’re here for the long haul to make this thing work. I don’t want anybody to focus on playing the blame game. Let’s just focus on where we are now. I’m so grateful to be surrounded by a community like Dallas, where we love sports. We love our sports players. We support each other.”