When I was in fifth grade my best friend lived across the street.
He was a Lakers fan. He and I would watch basketball together. I remember one game when the Jazz were playing the Lakers and we watched it together. I was ruthless. I was mean. I was calling him a bandwagon fan, all of the mean insults and Laker hate comments I could come up with.
That friend was one of the kindest souls. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body. That day it didn’t matter to me. He was a fan of the enemy. My friend was being complimentary of the Jazz throughout the game. I had nothing nice to say about the Lakers. I don’t remember exactly what happened but I do know that friend left upset. A deep-seated hatred of the Lakers had been engrained in me at a young age. I knew they were evil, and I hated them.
Bill Simmons has a saying. He says he doesn’t really hate any professional sports teams. He calls it sports hate. My hate might be real. But it’s healthy hate. We all must unite to hate the Death Star, the Yankees, the Cowboys, and the Lakers.
My hatred runs deep.
Fast forward 25 years and on the morning of February 2nd I woke up to a text.
It was from Chris and it said, “No way this trade is real.”
I pulled up my sports app and checked the news.
Surely this trade wasn’t real. Luka Doncic, one of the best players in the NBA had been traded. Not only had he been traded. He’d been traded to the Lakers. What do the Lakers even have to offer for a player of Doncic’s caliber? I thought.
Not real. Must be fake.
Further investigation.
Real.
Can’t be real.
How can it be real?
I looked into the trade more.
A soon-to-be-over-his-prime center, a first-round pick, and a throw-in player for the second best player in the league who, oh by the way, is 25 years old?
As I read about the trade that morning, I thought back to that time with my friend when I was 10 years old.
This was why I hate the Lakers.
A lot of nonsense has come out about this trade since. A lot of reasonings and excuses about why the Mavericks did it. Why would they trade Luka Doncic?
The Mavericks have aggressively bashed Luka while trying to defend their decision. If the decision has such solid reasoning, why does it need so much defense?
Propaganda against Luka has included but is not limited to:
He is fat and out of shape. Oh yeah, and still destroying the NBA? What happens if he does get in shape then?!?! Also, fat and out of shape, so you trade him for someone who has historically been injury-ridden and is now approaching 33 years old? The irony of Anthony Davis getting hurt in his first game with the Mavericks is too much. Anthony Davis will be out for multiple weeks. Meanwhile you can catch Luka doing what he does best: killing teams.
You hate to root against players especially when they did nothing to deserve it. But that’s what the Mavericks did to Anthony Davis.
Other attacks on Luka include complaints about chemistry, culture, and reports have gone so far as to basically imply management couldn’t stand him. Meanwhile, this organization that he gave the first 6 years of his career to traded him, cost him 100+ million dollars, and is now bashing him. Luka’s response? A heartfelt message about how he always wanted to bring a championship to Dallas and was sorry he couldn’t now. What a scumbag. Seriously. Maybe he is a complete jerk in the locker room and everyone hates him. Problem is I haven’t seen that.
Another reason given by the Mavericks includes that they want to win now. Your plan to win now is trade the guy who has dragged you to a conference finals and NBA finals in two of the last three years, all before the age of 25? This guy averaged 39 minutes, 31 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals in last year’s playoffs. Win now. What a sorry excuse for an excuse.
The player Doncic got traded for has solid stats. But he’s not Luka and he’s not 25.
Even if you think trading Luka Doncic needed to be done, why not shop him? This is the second or third best player in the NBA. He is an out of this world asset. This trade was done under the cover of night. Of course the Mavericks have tons of stupid reasons they did this. It’s inexcusable. I talked to my JV team about this trade. I gave them a life lesson: If you have a multi-million dollar house, don’t sell it to the first person who comes to the open house who offers half its value. That’s stupid. If you have something valuable to offer, see what people will offer.
Do you know the real reason the Mavericks didn’t make it public knowledge that they were trading Luka Doncic?
- Because the NBA world would have said, what? Really? And made them feel stupid.
- Their fan base would have revolted.
If that’s not the reason they didn’t do this as a complete secret, then I just don’t know. The trade is even more stupid.
Kareem Abdul Jabaar.
Magic Johnson.
Shaquille O’Neal.
Kobe Bryant.
Pao Gasol.
Dwight Howard.
LeBron James.
Anthony Davis.
And now Luka Doncic.
Add him to the list of best players of all time gifted to the Los Angeles Lakers.
This is why I hate the Lakers.
No Coincidences 