SVP's One Big Thing: Luka, Kyrie, and the Mavericks' Collapse

At least once a game, while watching L.A., I will declare aloud: Luka Doncic plays for the Los Angeles Lakers.

It's strange to see him wearing the jersey and all that.  Beyond the optics is the reality.  A multiyear first-team All-NBA player did not simply swap teams late one weekend in February.  He joined the Lakers after leading his team to the Finals the previous season.  Dallas Mavericks fans were startled and enraged in the same manner a fan base is when they do not know something so unexpected has already occurred.

The dust hadn't settled when Anthony Davis, the prize they received back, was injured in his first game and is still on the sidelines.  Daniel Gafford was wounded three weeks ago and will miss at least three more.  It all felt a little star-crossed, and then Monday night came.

Understanding Kyrie Irving's loss due to an ACL tear is challenging.  It feels like the harsh punchline at the end of a bad joke.  However, none of it is.  It's simply the reality in which the Dallas Mavericks and their devoted fans now exist.  Eight months after the Finals, Luka is a Laker. The critical player they received in exchange for him is injured; Kyrie is out for the rest of the season, and who knows how much of next season? At least Dallas raised ticket prices.  That happened one month after they relocated to Luka.  The gall to do so is almost admirable in its lack of self-awareness.

It's a shocking reversal for a club that made a giant stride forward last season by reaching the Finals.  It's typically a process, and THAT was a significant hurdle.  They had Luka and Kyrie, and everything was coming together in a way that does not always happen.  Sometimes, that's the closest a team gets. The retreat can be gradual and harsh when you're stuck in that "so close but not quite" state.  In some respects, it's worse than rooting for a bad team because you're never faced with what-if scenarios.

However, it appears that everything has vanished.  Wasn't I talking to Kyrie about what returning to Boston to play his former team in the Finals meant to him?  Wasn't Dallas motoring along in early February, waiting for Luka to recover from his Christmas calf injury? Now it's March, and they've arrived. I don't know where that is, but it must feel light-years away from where they were before. It is because, for the time being, and possibly for much longer.