The latest target of Luka Doncic’s wrath: his former head coach: Jason Kidd.
After Doncic nailed a second 3-pointer in the first quarter of the Lakers’ 107-99 win over the Mavericks on Tuesday, Los Angeles’ newest star immediately turned to his former team’s bench and appeared to yell directly at Kidd.
“It was so weird in the moment,” Doncic said of his staredown with the Dallas bench after the game. “I probably don’t know what I was doing, and I’m glad we got the win.”
Kidd knew about that trade and Luka knows lol pic.twitter.com/8htVmJWzoq
— Jo (@MavsStan41) February 27, 2025
Kidd denied any knowledge of the behind-closed-doors blockbuster trade engineered by Mavericks GM Nico Harrison that sent Doncic to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis.
“Yeah, I’m an employee of the Mavs,” Kidd said a day after the late-night Feb. 1 deal. “I think I’ve said this before: I’m the coach. I coach the players that are here. We made a trade, and we got to push forward.
“No, I’m the one who gets the groceries, and I’ve got to figure out how to use it, and so that’s what we’re doing. … I don’t wanna be the one that’s buying the groceries, just give me the groceries and I’ll figure it out.”
The Mavericks’ laundry list of issues with Doncic — the Slovenian’s weight, conditioning and proclivity for beer and hookah, among then — have leaked out in the weeks after the league-altering deal
If the icy stare and greeting for Kidd weren’t enough, the 26-year-old posted a dominant 19 points, 15 rebounds, 12 assists and two blocks against his former team.
“We just gotta embrace it,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick told reporters after the win. “It’s just a little weird, it just naturally is. I’ve never in my life playing basketball went to another team and played them the first time and said, ‘Oh, this is just another team.’ No, it isn’t. It’s healthy just to acknowledge it and embrace it. And then you play the game and never have to do that again.”
Harrison, who has been at the center of Mavericks fans’ ire since the shocking trade went down, has attempted to explain it away as improving the team’s defense for Kidd.
“I believe that defense wins championships,” Harrison said shortly after the trade broke. “I believe that getting an All-Defensive center and an All-NBA player with a defensive mindset gives us a better chance. We’re built to win now and in the future.”
Los Angeles has certainly gotten the better of the trade up to this point, as Davis went down with an injury in the first game he played with Dallas.
Meanwhile, the Lakers are the hottest team in the NBA as they have climbed to 36-21 on an 8-2 stretch since acquiring Doncic — just one game back in the loss column separating them from the No. 2 seed.
