Dallas Executive Says Organization was Terrified of Luka Doncic
Dončić, who joined the Mavs in 2018, presented a different type of mentality from Bryant. Dončić drinks beer and smokes a hookah, neither of which is atypical for a 25-year-old. But those behaviors didn’t fit Harrison’s mold.
Questions about the organization’s ability to hold Dončić accountable followed.
Management unsuccessfully pushed him to get into better shape, even as he dominated the league, averaging at least 27 points, at least eight rebounds and at least eight assists during each of the five seasons following his first in the NBA. Dončić controlled more day-to-day decisions than the average player does, such as practice schedules, though superstars on other teams receive similar treatment.
“Every person who worked at the Mavericks, except for me, was terrified of this guy,” Haralabos Voulgaris, a Mavericks executive from 2018 to 2021, said of Dončić
Voulgaris told a story about interacting with Dončić during his rookie season. Dončić filled a thermos with lemonade and sweet tea. “I know liquid calories are death,” Voulgaris told then-owner Cuban. Voulgaris, according to his recounting, was told to stay in his lane.
In November, Dončić missed five games with what the Mavericks announced as a right wrist sprain. That injury classification was not entirely true. In reality, Dončić was supposed to use time off to improve his conditioning, team sources said.
Dallas might have worried about Dončić’s body, but until a recent calf ailment, he had never missed significant time because of injury. This will be his first season playing fewer than 60 games. (On the other side, Davis is six years his elder and has failed to compete in 60 games during four of the previous six seasons. Considering the injury he suffered during his first game with the Mavericks, he could miss that landmark again in 2024-25.)
Nonetheless, concern built, including with Harrison, that Dončić’s body would break down possibly sooner than anyone would suspect. It eventually reached a point where Harrison felt he had to move on from someone who could still one day be a league MVP.
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