The trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 1 was a tectonic trade that improved not only the team's prospects for this season but also the foreseeable future. But of course, it was an unmitigated disaster for the Dallas Mavericks.
Mavericks fans have been irate and inconsolable ever since the trade went down. They have directed their ire toward Nico Harrison, the team's general manager, as well as owner Patrick Dumont. There have even been conspiracy theories floating around about the true motives behind the franchise getting rid of the greatest player in its history.
While Dallas got superstar big man Anthony Davis back in the Doncic deal and was expected by some to be a dark-horse team, it has suffered lots of bad luck since. Davis went down with an adductor injury in his first game with Dallas and missed several weeks as a result, and soon afterward, it lost big man Daniel Gafford, guard Dante Exum and All-Star Kyrie Irving to additional injuries.
Some are likely wondering if the Doncic trade will curse the Mavericks organization moving forward. Prior to Wednesday's game between the Mavs and Lakers, Mavs head coach Jason Kidd acknowledged how some have even been comparing the trade to the Boston Red Sox selling Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1920 (h/t Lakers Nation).
“Yeah, I think with 77 there’s a lot of hope right? With Luka there’s a lot of hope. This is a business. It happens right? Trades happen. This won’t be the last trade. Some have compared it to Babe Ruth which is kinda cool. But like when you look at just the business of sports, change happens. But when change happens, it’s the ones who can carry on and keep moving forward, those are the special people. Fans are gonna be fans, they have a right to boo, they have a right to cheer. Hope is still in that locker room. AD is not a bad player. I think he’s top-75 if I recall, has won at every level. There’s different opinions of how things were handled, that’s always gonna be a conversation. But when you see those guys in that uniform with the Mavericks, those guys play hard and they play together and they’re trying to find a way to win. And so there’s hope, there’s still hope, and there’ll be hope 10 years from now because the league will continue to go. That train doesn’t stop for anybody. And so just understanding that the fans will come to grips with this. That we’re gonna have a chance to win a championship here, hopefully so. And we believe in Nico and Patrick that they’re gonna do the right thing to put those pieces in that locker room to give us that chance.”
Full pregame quote from Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, who said that “some have compared it to Babe Ruth, which is kind of cool” regarding the Luka Doncic trade to the Lakers: pic.twitter.com/vJlXZBEqQ2
— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) April 9, 2025
As just about everyone knows, the Red Sox were Major League Baseball's dominant team when Ruth played for them from 1914 to 1919. They won three World Series championships during that time, but once he went to New York, the Red Sox didn't win another world title until 2004 and were victimized by lots of bad fortune at inopportune times. Ruth's departure started the ...
