Paul Pierce spectacularly wrong about Luka Dončić

Paul Pierce predicted Luka Dončić would disappoint in his return to Dallas Thursday night, he even took a victory lap around that prediction. But then the game started.

Ahead of Dončić playing his first game in Dallas since being jettisoned to the Los Angeles Lakers by the Mavericks, Pierce expected emotions to get the best of the NBA superstar.

“We’ve seen Klay [Thompson] to Golden State, we’ve seen Jimmy Butler to Miami, and neither one of them performed well,” Pierce said Wednesday on FS1’s Speak. “As a player, as a competitor, when you get traded or you leave on a bad note, your initial is you want to get back there and do some work.”

And while Dončić undoubtedly wanted to get back to Dallas to do some work, Pierce said emotions take over when returning players arrive to see their former teammates and familiar faces in the arena. And then emotions really take over when they put that tribute video up on the big screen.

“The emotions drain all the animosity out of you,” Pierce said before predicting a less-than-impressive performance for Dončić. “It just won’t be up to his standard because of all the emotions. That’s usually what happens on these games.”

A few hours later, Pierce saw Dončić begin to tear up on ESPN as his tribute video aired minutes before tip-off. And that was all Pierce needed to take a victory lap.

Paul Pierce reacts to Luka Doncic tearing up during his Mavs pregame tribute video pic.twitter.com/OIsQO3K8St

— 2Cool2Blog (@2Cool2Blog) April 10, 2025

“That’s too emotional for him. Man, he can’t take it, dog. Look, he about to cry. He’s crying! Told y’all,” Pierce said while watching Dončić react to the pregame tribute video. “Look, he ain’t gonna be able to play tonight. LeBron’s gonna have to save him. I told you, he’s too emotional right now. Man, hand it over to LeBron, man, let him bring home the win. I told y’all!”

Pierce’s victory lap was a few minutes too soon. Because if he just waited for the game to begin, he would have instantly realized, like the rest of us, that the emotions didn’t drain the animosity out of Dončić.

Dončić scored 31 points in the first half and 45 for the game, en route to leading LeBron James and the Lakers to a 112-97 win over Dallas.

If Pierce just left it at what he said about Dončić on Speak, his take wouldn’t have looked quite as bad. But his “told y’all” victory lap minutes before Dončić proved him spectacularly wrong, made this into a brutally freezing cold take.