Luka Doncic reacts to Don Nelson ripping Mavericks for trading him

USA Today

2 days ago

Luka Doncic reacts to Don Nelson ripping Mavericks for trading him
127 days after the trade, former Mavs head coach Don Nelson discusses his Luka trade protest… with Luka's former coach Rick Carlisle right next to him pic.twitter.com/y0yYu67vHN — Mavs Film Room 🐴🎥 (@MavsFilmRoom) June 8, 2025
Recently, during an NBA Finals press conference, Don Nelson was given the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award for his many years as a former NBA head coach.
His head coaching career started in the 1976-77 season with the Milwaukee Bucks, and he spent 11 seasons there while guiding some very good and underrated teams. Today's fans perhaps know him best as the head coach of those Dallas Mavericks teams in the early 2000s that were among the first to play modern-day "pace and space" basketball. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012 as a head coach.
At the press conference, Nelson showed solidarity with the Mavericks franchise while protesting the trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February. He wore a pair of Doncic's sneakers and had the following message.
"Luka, too, my dear friend, in fact, I want everybody to know I am wearing Luka's shoes, his new shoes from Nike," Nelson said. "Just got on the market. I'm wearing them in protest for the trade from Dallas. I think it was a tremendous mistake by the Dallas franchise to trade him -- and I want everybody to know that."
Doncic, in turn, tweaked Nelson a bit with a post on Instagram.
Luka with a message for former Mavs Head Coach Don Nelson on his IG story:
'Congratulations Coach! Nice shoes!' pic.twitter.com/7p2X4OPWLL — Mavs Film Room 🐴🎥 (@MavsFilmRoom) June 9, 2025
Before Nelson became a head coach, he had a successful 14-year playing career in the NBA. He actually spent two seasons early in his career with the Lakers, but he played 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics, a franchise he won five world championships with in the 1960s and 1970s.
His last coaching gig ended with the 2009-10 season when he was at the helm of the Golden State Warriors during Stephen Curry's rookie year.