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LeBron James embraces Luka Doncic as Dallas fans cheer late in the Lakers' win over the Mavericks. Doncic scored 45 points during his first emotional game back in Dallas since a shocking trade that sent him to the Lakers. (LM Otero / Associated Press)
During any other road game, Luka Doncic would’ve arrived at the arena on the team bus. For this one, he pulled up in an Apocalypse Hellfire, a six-wheeled mini-tank.
See for Doncic, this wasn’t really a road game. It wasn’t really a home game either. It was just a 26-year-old star stuck in this strange in-between world where he was traded from a team and a city he loved to the Los Angeles Lakers, his life being upended in a single trade call that left no time to empty out his garage.
So instead of riding the bus, he drove the tank.
Doncic pulling into Wednesday’s game with the Mavericks alone was fittingly symbolic.
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Luka Doncic sits on the bench and fights back tears while watching a video his former team, the Mavericks, played in his honor Wednesday night in Dallas. (LM Otero / Associated Press)
The anticipation for the moment had been building since the blockbuster trade on Feb. 1, his return to a fan base that has openly mourned and protested his departure with a mixture of sadness, anger and abandonment of the Mavericks. Outside the Mavericks' arena, a bar served shots for $7.77 while a runner took 77 laps around the American Airlines Center to raise money for Doncic’s foundation.
The shirts draped on the seats said “Hvala za vse” — “Thanks for everything” in Slovenian.
It was going to be all about him.
But something else happened Wednesday as the Lakers won 112-97 to clinch a top-six seed and playoff bid.
Doncic’s moment? It became about the Lakers as a whole, the group crying the same tears, fighting off the same emotions and celebrating the win with an exhale that can propel them into the playoffs.
Read more:Lakers star Luka Doncic scores 45 in emotional, winning return to Dallas
That feeling bubbled throughout the night, from the pregame tribute video to the final horn, but it got cemented after Doncic’s final basket, a flat-footed three-foot push shot that might’ve been the easiest two points of his 45.
As he walked to the bench after Dallas called timeout to surrender, Rui Hachimura met him with a huge smile. Austin Reaves howled and bumped his chest into Doncic’s. Dorian Finney-Smith and Doncic did their choreographed handshake.
And, finally, LeBron James met him with the biggest hug he could deliver.
“I've been in a lot of moments in my career. I've played against some former teammates. I've played against former teams. I've been booed, I've been cheered, I've been whatever. Everything. I've seen it all,” James told The Times. “And, one thing you can't, one thing you can't ever undermine is just the emotion behind a human. And, as much emotion that was going on tonight, as much hoopla was going on and how much the game of basketball wrapped around it, the human side kicked in.
“Not only for Luka, but for our ball club and for me.”
It was no longer a Doncic moment; it was a Lakers moment.
That embrace had been building since the moments just prior to the game when the Mavericks played a two-minute tribute video on the scoreboard before they announced him as a visiting player for the first time.
Doncic sat alone on the bench, moving his view from the video screen to the towel he used to hide his face. And while he watched, Lakers coaches and players watched Doncic, drawn into nakedly exposed emotions.
“Coach said after the game when he saw Luka crying, he started crying,” Reaves told The Times. “[Assistant coach Greg St. Jean] started crying. And to be honest, I didn't wanna look at him because I was over there looking up and I was getting chills. So I was like, ‘If I look at this man and I see the emotion, like I'm probably going to get upset.'
“So I think everybody in the locker room had the same feeling.”
James was there for a pregame embrace after Doncic was announced to the crowd, another moment for him to share with his new teammate.
And then he brought apocalyptic hellfire, scoring 31 points in the first half.
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Laker Rui Hachimura hugs teammate Luka Doncic and celebrates his success during an emotional win over his former team, the Mavericks, Wednesday in Dallas. (LM Otero / Associated Press)
“It's a beautiful moment,” Redick said. “I thought the video was great, but I think just his ability to then go perform. Lights turn on. He's teary-eyed still as we walk out on the court for the tip ball. To have the emotional resolve to then go put on that kind of performance, it's superhuman.”
In their push for prime playoff position, the Lakers have shown great moments of on-court connection, particularly in blowout road wins in Denver and Oklahoma City. Those bonds seemed to only tighten Wednesday as they rode the emotional roller coaster with Doncic instead of leaving him to face it alone.
“Everybody had my back, from coaches to players,” Doncic said. “And we’re trying to build something special here and that was really, really, really nice to see.”
He had to have felt it after walking off the court in the fourth quarter, the crowd and his teammates all chanting his name as the Lakers’ huddle bounced with excitement. Redick said he and St. Jean noticed that embrace with James first.
Read more:'Imagine how I felt': Luka Doncic surprised he was traded to Lakers
“It can bring you together. It can bring you closer. You never know. NBA is a fickle thing. Greg and I were talking as that moment was happening, both kind of fighting back some emotions. And Greg said to me, 'This is gonna be awesome for our group to go through this with him, and for him to go through this with them.'
“Does that mean we're gonna win an NBA championship or get to the conference finals? I don't know. But it was an awesome moment for everyone.”
“I think it just, it shows in a short period of time, it shows how much that we care about one another,” Reaves said.
It wasn’t just a night for Doncic; it was one for his team days away from them beginning a chase for a championship. And it was a night for James and Doncic as they strengthen their partnership heading into their first postseason.
“For him to have the game he had,” James said. “For me to be a part of it, for me to be a part of helping him win the game, 'cause I know how important that was even more than anything, it was just another step in our journey.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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