Back when Luka Doncic was a franchise player with the Dallas Mavericks, it seemed that Mark Cuban was as high on him as anyone in the organization. Cuban even indicated in 2020 that he would divorce his wife before he would get rid of the Slovenian.
However, around five years later, Doncic is no longer a member of the Mavericks. He got traded to the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2024-25 campaign, and with Doncic now wearing a different jersey, Cuban admitted that he’s no longer a diehard Doncic fan.
“Yeah, of course,” Cuban said when asked if he was a diehard Doncic fan when the guard was with the Mavs.
He was then asked something different.
“Course not,” Cuban said when asked if he’s still a diehard Doncic fan.
He made it clear that while he loves Doncic as a person, he won’t be rooting for his on-court success with the Lakers.
“Off the court, love Luka to death,” he said. “On the court, f— him. I don’t want him to get hurt or anything.”
Cuban said he simply doesn’t like the Lakers.
“They have the same colors as my high school — I threw my high school gear away,” he said. “… I’m gonna hope they go 0-82.”
Cuban, now a minority owner with the Mavs, has made it clear multiple times that he wouldn’t have made the Doncic trade if it had been up to him.
Doncic is easily one of the most talented players ever to suit up for the Mavericks franchise. Across 422 career regular-season contests played in a Dallas uniform, he averaged 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
He racked up far and away the most triple-doubles of any Maverick ever as well with 80. For comparison, Jason Kidd is in a distant second place in franchise history with 21.
It’s not as if Doncic put up empty stats on bad teams over the course of his Mavericks career either, as the team qualified for the playoffs four times across his six full seasons in Dallas. Plus, in his final full season with the Mavericks, they knocked on the door of a championship and qualified for the 2024 NBA Finals.
But the Mavericks traded him just months after he spearheaded the team’s first Finals run since the year 2011, and he’s looking to help the Lakers to a championship in 2026. Los Angeles will try to match the Boston Celtics for the most titles won by any team in league history at 18 with a ring in 2026.
It seems safe to claim that Cuban would feel mixed emotions — or maybe just straight bitterness — if Doncic’s Lakers ended up winning a title next year after the Slovenian came up just short of the ultimate goal with the Mavericks.