Scott van Pelt: Luka, Kyrie and the evaporation of the Mavericks

Once per game, at least, while I look at Los Angeles, I will say aloud: Luka Doncic plays for Los Angeles Lakers.

It is shocking to see it with the shirt and all that. Beyond the image is reality. A player who has been a member of the first NBA team for several years did not change equipment at night a weekend in February. He joined the Lakers and left a team that took the finals a season ago. The fans of the Dallas Mavericks were stunned and outraged as a fan base is when they have no idea that something so unexpected is not just a possibility … it already happened.

The waters were still going gradually when Anthony Davis, the prize they recovered, was injured in their first game and now remains outside the courts. They lost Daniel Gafford for injury three weeks ago and at least three more. Everything seemed more than a bit misunderstanding … and then happened on Monday night.

It is almost impossible to imagine that Kyrie Irving has lost the title due to a breakage of the anterior cross ligament. It looks like the end of a bad taste, but it is not. It is the reality in which the Dallas Mavericks and their passionate followers live. Eight months after they were in the finals, Luka is a Laker, the key player they got in return is injured, Kyrie has lost the rest of this season and who knows how long, but hey, at least Dallas increased ticket prices. That happened a month after they transferred Luka. The impudence of doing so is almost impressive because of its absolute lack of awareness of yourself.

It is an impressive change of direction for a team that took the huge step last season and reached the finals. It is often a process, and that obstacle was huge. They had Luka, acquired Kyrie and everything was joining in a way that does not always happen. Sometimes, that is as close as a team can arrive, the withdrawal can be gradual and it can be cruel when you are caught in that “so close but not at all.” In a way, it is worse than supporting a team that is terrible, because at least like this you never face hypothetical situations.

But this seems as if everything had evaporated. Wasn’t I talking to Kyrie about what he represented for him to return to Boston to face his former team in the finals? More recently, wasn’t Dallas simply moving forward in early February waiting for Luka to return from the Christmas calf injury, and now is March and are here? I don’t know where that is, but you must feel like light years from where they were. Because, for the moment, and maybe for much longer, it is.