Luka Doncic’s drinking and smoking spooked Mavericks into making a terrible trade

There are several reasons the Dallas Mavericks decided to trade Luka Doncic, but chief among them appears to be ridiculous concern over something petty. One of the big sticking points for Mavs GM Nico Harrison was Doncic’s love of beer and smoking hookah, which he believed were major character concerns.

This from a new report by The Athletic, which details the decisions behind Dallas trading Luka and their motivations behind it.

“They mention the social habits that The Athletic has reported on — such as a taste for beer and hookah — which have been a point of concern for NBA types since he was a 19-year-old star for Real Madrid who was entering the draft.”

Doncic’s love of beer and hookah, paired with a general sense of “laziness” surrounding him resulted in the Mavericks deciding to trade away their best player, their brightest future star, all out of concern he didn’t have the “Mamba Mentality” that Harrison venerated in players.

Couched inside this revelation is a very real discussion to be had about the perception and expectations of athletes. Sure, we can put players on a pedestal and imagine a world where they never drink, never smoke, say their prayers, and take their vitamins — but that’s a fantasy, a fairy tale. It holds professional athletes to a standard nobody lives to, especially those with the wealth to enjoy their youth, enjoy their lives, and travel the world like almost nobody has.

Point being: If Luka Doncic is able to drop a triple-double on any given night, if he can lead a team to the NBA Finals, if he can become one of only 15 players in NBA history to score 70 points in a game, then who gives a rat’s ass if he’s in public having some beers or smoking a hookah on his own free time?

It’s precisely the point Sam Amick makes in his piece.

“That’s how it was for the likes of Allen Iverson, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Bill Walton, and Larry Bird — all elite players who had their warts. That list is undeniably long, with very few able to meet the sort of standard set by Bryant or his idol, Michael Jordan (who had off-court issues of his own).”

If Nico Harrison was going to clutch his pearls over beer drinking and hookah smoking then he wouldn’t have survived 15 seconds in an organization in the 70s or 80s. Michael Jordan smoked cigars and gambled all the time, Larry Bird drank so much in bars he got into bar fights — and my God, if you want to even touch on the Showtime Lakers — with Kareem smoking more grass than a football field, the amount of cocaine at team parties, and players turning up to practice so hung over they could hardly dribble a basketball.

Nobody is saying any of those actions are healthy, far from it — but then don’t be so bull-headed as to get all huffy when Luka is out publicly having a few beers or smoking a hookah with friends. Hell, one could make a strong argument that it’s infinitely more healthy from a mental standpoint than being so singularly-minded on basketball that everything else fades into oblivion.

Are there areas where Luka could mature? Absolutely. Is he also 25-years-old and people who are in their mid-twenties tend to not be very mature? Indeed. This is now the Mavericks cross to bear, and no matter how much they try to justify their terrible trade, they made a mammoth mistake.