When Luka Doncic wrote his farewell message to Dallas, he left out controversy and thanked everyone in the organization, but mostly dedicated his best wishes to the fans. His father, on the other hand, wasn’t going to let this one slide and called out the Mavericks front office for handling his son’s trade poorly.
During a recent interview with Slovenian media network Arena Sport 1, Sasa Doncic went all the way to accuse the franchise of “secrecy,” while dealing with the three-team trade negotiations, slamming them as hipocrites for telling his son something different from their true intentions.
“I understand there comes a moment when you disagree with a certain philosophy,” Luka’s dad said in his native language, which was then translated to English. “You don’t like this or that player, all good — I get it.”
Luka Doncic's father accused the Mavericks of "secrecy" and "hypocrisy" in the way they handled his son's trade out of Dallas. https://t.co/CzVXTBdANH
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 3, 2025
He then added: “But I think that exactly this secrecy, or should I say from some individuals, maybe even hypocrisy, this hurts me personally. Because I think that Luka absolutely doesn’t deserve this.”
Now that Doncic is bound for Los Angeles and Anthony Davis is headed for Dallas, Mavs general manager Nico Harrison explained why the trade made sense for him, saying that “defense wins championships,” while citing Luka’s upcoming contractual situation as a potential conflict within the team.
As the 25-year-old’s conditioning was reportedly a reason behind the Texan team trading him out, Sasa pointed out that last season his son played 70 regular-season games and averaged 37.5 minutes per contest. The All-Star then went on to play 22 more games in the playoffs while averaging 40.9 minutes per match, leading the team to the NBA Finals.
The father is convinced that his son’s fitness wasn’t the issue. “[Luka’s conditioning] wasn’t even a problem last year since, I am saying again, one individual said he’s not fit enough,” Sasa said. “That he played, I don’t know, 100 games — practically 40 minutes with two or three players constantly on him.
“That he was beaten, and you say such things about him — I feel that this is very unfair from certain individuals. You traded him, stand by your actions but don’t look for excuses or alibis, that’s it.”
