Luka Dončić was traded to the Lakers from the Mavericks nearly one year ago, but it’s hard to break habits after you played for a team for seven and a half years.
Dončić and the Lakers played at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Saturday night and won 116–110 thanks in part to a strong double-double performance from Dončić (33 points, 11 assists).
Dončić seemed to be having a great time competing against his former team and teammates. So much so that at halftime, Dončić briefly forgot what team he played for. The six-time All-Star accidentally started walking towards the Mavericks locker room when the buzzer went off at halftime, seemingly out of habit. After a second or two, Dončić swiftly turned around to go to the visitor’s locker room with his current team.
Luka started to walk towards the Mavs locker room at halftime 🥺💙
(Via @LADEig) pic.twitter.com/Lb7ULsKMsJ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 25, 2026
The guard admitted to this mistake when speaking to the Inside the NBA crew on ESPN after the win.
“I think today at halftime I was going to the other tunnels. I was kind of confused,” Dončić said while laughing.
Luka Doncic joins the Inside the NBA crew after dropping 33 points on his former team in Dallas 🙌
And yes, he did accidentally walk toward the wrong locker room at halftime 😅 pic.twitter.com/krn2nimVFr
— ESPN (@espn) January 25, 2026
Dončić said the first time he played at American Airlines Center after becoming a Laker, he did the same thing. This might be a habit that will be hard for him to break for quite some time.
The Lakers will travel to Dallas again on Sunday, April 5, so we’ll see if Dončić remembers which locker room to go to then.
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