Some are moving on from the Mavs now. And they have a warning for Luka’s ex-team.
DALLAS — The trade news that rocked the sports world is hitting especially hard in one corner of the real world.
“It’s like an apocalyptic thing,” said Gregor Sevsek. “I’m not exaggerating right now.”
The Slovenian Luka super fan said that the trade has dominated the airwaves. “In primetime news here in Slovenia, we are always constantly getting some political themes in the very first 30 minutes or so,” Sevsek explained. “Right now, the menu starts with Luka Doncic—like 4… 5… 6 minutes—just about Luka. What happened? Who was involved? It’s kind of the greatest story right now in Slovenia, no doubt about it.”
To think, just last summer when the Mavs were led by Luka to the NBA Finals, WFAA was there in Slovenia on Luka’s childhood court.
We were there, taking in the beautiful ‘Land of Luka’. We talked to his coaches and watched the new members of his old basketball team as they practiced.
And we watched Slovenian Mavericks fans as they watched their — and our — superstar play for a championship live in the middle of the night. And now, his time with the Mavs is done — and so is theirs, Sevsek said, who was the one who showed us where Luka trains in the capital Ljubljana.
News of the trade, he said, “Is like a big, big punch in the head for all of us. Right now, we kind of hate the organization. Not the city, not the fans, of course not — but the organization.”
Sevsek said that as bad as things are for fans in Slovenia, he feels even worse for fans in Dallas, “I feel so sorry about the Dallas fans because they have been so great to Luka. They showed so much love through the seven years he’s been there.”
He is now moving on to follow Luka with the Lakers. Many Slovenians have given up on the Mavs now, according to Slovenian basketball commentator Tilen Lamut.
“I think people just don’t care about the Mavericks anymore because they’re going to root for the Lakers,” Lamut explained.
That may get easier now. Lamut’s TV channel, Arena Sport in Slovenia, had been showing as many Mavs games as possible. Not anymore, said Lamut.
“It’s a funny thing because as an official broadcaster of the NBA games, we get kind of a package of games and then of course, we try to move up the ladder and get as many Mavericks games as possible,” Lamut detailed. “This has stopped… officially this has stopped… our hunt is for the games of the Lakers.”
Lamut has been busy going on television news programs, where he has been asked to make sense of the trade, “I keep telling them there’s no way to understand what happened. I think it’s just unimaginable, something we’ve maybe never seen before on this scale with this kind of player and in this kind of environment… this has a potential to be one of the dumbest moves ever made in history of sports.”
Lamut believes Los Angeles will be great for Luka, especially if he can pick up some conditioning tips from fellow Laker and a longtime dominator on the court LeBron James.
He also believes Luka will more than make up for any money he may have lost out on in this trade.
“Oh 100%,” Lamut emphasized. “Now he can’t sign the Supermax (contract with the Mavs) that basically cost him like above $100 million. But playing in LA… representing their market there… I think he can get that money back and then some quite easily with different sponsorships, endorsements, etcetera.”
Lamut also warns Luka’s ex-team to look out for the Laker with a bruised ego, “I think he’s not going to say it, but he’s going to show it on the court. I think he’s going to be a monster. Like… just run away because the train is going to hit you.”
And with that, a parting word to Luka in his native tongue. Sevsek sent Luka a video message in Slovenian and then translated it for us:
“I said that we were with him when he was in Dallas,” Sevsek said. “Of course, we are going to be with him now when he is in Los Angeles. We will support him no matter what. And if he was not able to get a championship ring in Dallas, I believe he will be able to do it in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform.”
