It was 8:16 p.m. on February 2, 2025. The Lakers announced on social media a brief message: ‘Yes, it really happened. Welcome to Los Angeles, Luka’.The dedication has almost 47 million views on X, formerly and always known as Twitter.
A few months later, while Hollywood decides what to do with such material, a question is being asked in various circles: is it the worst sporting decision in history?
Luka Doncic’s former team, the Dallas Mavericks, traded him for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round draft pick. The promoter of the idea, Nico Harrison, was fired this week from the Mavs, an institution that has been in a state of shock since February.
Nico Harrison’s explanation
Team owner Patrick Dumont explained the decision to dispense with Harrison: “I understand the profound impact that these difficult last few months have had,” a message in which he was careful not to name Luka Doncic.
Those so-called “tough months” catapulted Nico Harrison, the Mavericks’ head of basketball operations, to fame. His favorite slogan to justify the Doncic trade was that “defenses win championships”. Although it would be bought by a marketing company, it did not serve to placate the Mavericks fans, who since February chanted ‘Get Nico out’ at every home game.
Before his dismissal, Harrison had acknowledged, in a slight fit of self-criticism, that “he did not know the level of love of the fans for Luka”. “These people don’t want us to win,” is a statement attributed to a player in the squad, desperate to check in every home game that the afternoon of February 2 is still remembered.
To round off the Mavericks’ ordeal, Doncic’s departure stirred up jinxes and demons. A few weeks later, Kyrie Irving, the team’s star point guard, tore his cruciate ligaments. Anthony Davis, the star from the Lakers, is struggling with injuries, mediocre games, relapses and a poor silhouette.
I didn’t know the level of Mavericks fans’ love for Doncic
His contribution to the improvement of the team is so minimal that the Dallas Mavericks do not rule out the option of trading him to acquire a good player in the point guard position, the one in which Doncic and Irving played together.
The numbers do not favor the positive view of the trade either. Doncic is averaging 34.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game this season for the Lakers. In contrast, Anthony Davis is averaging 20.8 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.
The Curse of the Bambino
With the Mavericks depressed and the Lakers with new illusions thanks to a physically reformed Doncic, the Slovenian’s trade and its consequences have reopened a debate about whether it is the worst decision in the history of the NBA and American sports.
In baseball, he finds an almost insurmountable barrier with what happened on January 5, 1920, when the Boston Red Sox decided to sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. The ‘Curse of the Bambino’ was born. Ruth, a diamond on and off the field, led his team to four World Series, while the Bostonians took 84 years to taste glory.
In the vast universe of the NFL, a 2022 trade became famous. The Cleveland Browns acquired Deshaun Watson, a quarterback from the Houston Texans, who was guaranteed a $235 million contract over five years. Watson, who was embroiled in a wave of lawsuits from women for sexual harassment, and plagued by injuries, is almost an ornament on the Cleveland roster.
The case of Michael Jordan
In 1975, the colors of the Lakers appeared again. The Milwaukee Bucks sent Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to California in exchange for Elmore Smith, Winters, Meyers and Junior Bridgeman. The center, a key player for the Bucks to win the League in 1971, became a pillar of the Lakers.
Jabbar, an icon of sport and social demands, built a resounding career in the Lakers’ paradise in which he wore five championship rings with that jersey. The Bucks took 50 years to become champions of the competition again.
Without being a transfer and without knowing at the time the scope of a choice, there are still comments about what happened in the 1984 draft. The Houston Rockets chose with the number one pick Hakeem Olajuwon, the imposing 2.15m Nigerian center. The Portland Trail Blazers then decided to recruit Sam Bowie, another 2.16m center, leaving a certain Michael Jordan free, who appeared as a gift for the Chicago Bulls, who chose third.
History dictates that Michael Jordan built the figure of the best basketball player of all time. Bowie, on the other hand, buried by injuries, was no more than a mirage in Portland.
Nine months later, in this special deck, there is room for Doncic’s new path. The Slovenian, after Harrison’s dismissal, only pointed out that “the city of Dallas, the fans and the players will always have a very special place in my heart. I will always call Dallas my home”. Not a mention of Harrison. Meanwhile, the worst decision of this year, and history will determine if forever, it continues.
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