By now, the stunning trade that sent superstar Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers has been extensively dissected and analyzed by sports media, but Pardon the Interruption put a unique twist on the topic Friday.
A week has passed since that blockbuster trade sent the NBA’s reigning scoring champion from the Dallas Mavericks to the Lakers in exchange for 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis. Other players and a draft pick were involved, but the shocking aspect involved the Mavericks’ decision to trade 25-year-old Dončić, who led the team to the NBA Finals last season.
While some prominent NBA media figures, such as Charles Barkley, think the Mavericks won the trade in the short term, Mavs fans are furious. Which led Tony Kornheiser to pop a question to PTI guest co-host Pablo Torre Friday.
“Which scene would you rather cover, Pablo? The Mavericks playing their first home game since the trade … or Monday’s Lakers home game, where Luka is targeting to be on the court?” Kornheiser asked.
“I love this question,” Torre said, “because the question here is, ‘Where’s the better story?’ I’m tempted to go to Dallas, I’m really tempted because I think we’ve missed the forest and the trees when it comes to a fan revolution that is maybe now going to focus on the people who own the team rather than the GM meat shield who’s been the guy we’ve all been criticizing …”
“Still, I’m sending myself to LA, I’m sending myself to the Lakers. I’m sending myself to see LeBron [James] … and I want to see Luka in his debut, I want to see that, because that’s history and not just anger.”
“I don’t think this is a close call. I think the answer is very obvious,” Kornheiser said. “Luka’s debut, that’s wonderful to watch. That is an on-court story. We want to find out how does he play with LeBron. What’s his defense like, if he plays any defense. Are they going to win? Those things are decided in the first game, no matter what happens here in the first game, Luka is going to have 30-35 more games there (this season). So to me, you can drop in any time.
“The first game where he’s not there in Dallas is a one-shot. It is an off-court story. It is an in-the-stands story. The first game is where you are going to feel how much those fans feel betrayed and how much pain they have. That will diminish in the second home game. You got to be there for this one. You have to let that pour all over you. That’s the story. I’m writing a column, that’s where I’m gonna be.”
“I hate to admit, that was a really good pitch,” Torre conceded.
Tony Kornheiser and Pablo Torre debate whether they would rather cover Dallas’s first post-trade home game or Luka’s debut with the Lakers. pic.twitter.com/MUQnS9pdZR
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 7, 2025
While Kornheiser and Torre disagreed there, they both agreed on the trade itself.
“It’s an insane trade,” Kornheiser said. “Nobody trades a 25-year-old superstar.”
“No one,” Torre agreed.
