Category: Basketball

Dwight Howard is the splash signing of the Los Angeles Riot, Ice Cube's BIG3 three-on-three basketball league announced Wednesday.

Howard, 39, promises to have a busy summer highlighted by two days in particular.

The former Lakers center will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Sept. 5, part of a class that also includes Carmelo Anthony, WNBA stars Sue Bird, Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles, coach Billy Donovan and the 2008 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team (of which Howard was a member).

And Howard will lead the Riot in their one and only home game of 2025, scheduled for Aug. 9 at the Intuit Dome.

That's right, the lone opportunity for L.A. fans to watch the Riot in their home city is to circle that day on a calendar, purchase a ticket and attend the game. The BIG3 format is for all eight teams to play on the same day in the same city, so four games will take place in succession at the Clippers' $2-billion arena in Inglewood.

Read more:Straight Outta L.A.: Ice Cube's new BIG3 team is the Riot and 'here to shake things up'

Each team will host a similar one-day event televised by CBS. The eight-game regular season begins June 14 at Allstate Arena, home of the Chicago Triplets, and ends Aug. 17 at American Airlines Center, home of the Dallas Power. The championship game is TBA.

The Riot will be coached by Nick Young and include co-captains Elijah Stewart and Jordan Crawford in addition to Howard. Young, Stewart and Crawford won the BIG3 Championship as part of the Enemies in 2023.

Stewart, 29, played at USC from 2014 to 2018 and at Westchester High. Crawford, 36, played six years in the NBA after being a first-round draft pick of the New Jersey Nets in 2010.

Howard joins a BIG3 roster of several significant offseason signings for the league including Montrezl Harrell and Wesley Johnson. In addition to L.A., Chicago and Dallas, the BIG3 home markets include Boston, Detroit, Houston, Miami and Washington, D.C.

“I’m excited to join Ice Cube and the BIG3 — especially right after being inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame,” Howard said in a statement. “Words can’t describe how grateful I am for these opportunities. I can’t wait to join the LA Riot and try to bring another championship to the city of LA. But, the ultimate goal I have is to help the league go global.”

Read more:'Do we need to throw hands?' Shaquille O'Neal-Dwight Howard beef still going strong in 2025

Expanding the BIG3 outside the U.S. is part of Ice Cube's plan for the league, which enters its eighth season. First on the agenda, though, is staging a season where for the first time teams are associated with cities.

"Dwight Howard is a perfect fit for the league, not just because of his athleticism and size but also due to our shared desire to grow the game of basketball around the world," Ice Cube said in a statement. "We are honored that he has chosen to bring his game and star power to the BIG3."

Howard averaged 15.7 points and 11.8 rebounds in 1,242 games across 18 NBA seasons that included three separate stints with the Lakers. He led the NBA in rebounds for the fifth time in 2012-13 with the Lakers, returned in 2019-2020 to help them win the NBA championship and finished his career in L.A. in 2021-22.

Howard played for seven NBA teams and was paid $248 million during his career. He played in Taiwan and Thailand the last two years.

“On behalf of the entire league, I want to be the first one to welcome Dwight Howard to the BIG3,” Ice Cube said. “His legacy speaks for itself, and he still has fun playing the game."

Read more:Why didn't Dwight Howard return to Lakers after 2020 title? He and Jeanie Buss clear the air

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Steph making case to snag final All-NBA First Team spot, per Draymond originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Even in Year 16 and with a plethora of young talent rising in the NBA, Steph Curry continues to be one of the best players in the association.

And after Curry strung together several impressive performances recently, including a 52-point outburst last week, Draymond Green believes his teammate is making a strong argument to make the All-NBA First Team this season.

“He’s definitely been locked in,” Green said on “The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis.” “It’s around that time. He’s playing with that edge and focus — and it’s showing. I think he’s making an argument to snatch that last spot on the All-NBA First Team. He putting up a real case.”

In 67 games this season, Curry is averaging 24.4 points on 44.7-percent shooting from the field and 39.6 percent from 3-point range, with 4.4 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.1 steals through 32.1 minutes. Those numbers have only increased since Jimmy Butler’s arrival to Golden State, with Curry averaging 27.4 points on 47.1-percent shooting from the field and 40.8 percent from beyond the arc, adding 4.2 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.2 steals in 25 games.

And last week’s big win over the Memphis Grizzlies served as just another reminder that Father Time has yet to catch up to Curry, who dropped 52 points with 12 3-pointers in 36 minutes.

He followed that performance up with a 37-point game against the Los Angeles Lakers and a 36-point showing against the Denver Nuggets in a critical back-to-back stretch, both wins for Golden State.

Elsewhere around the league, superstars such as Nikola Jokić, NBA MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo seemingly have solidified their case to make the All-NBA First Team — leaving that final slot open to others such as Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Karl-Anthony Towns, or, as Green predicts, Curry.

Knicks star Jalen Brunson also has been building a strong case to make the team, but the NBA policy mandates that a player must participate in at least 65 games to be eligible for All-NBA teams and other honors. With three regular-season games remaining for New York, Brunson currently sits at 63 games after missing 15 contests with an ankle injury.

Of course, awards never have been top of mind for Curry as his focus lies solely on the Warriors’ playoff push in a tight Western Conference. Nonetheless, Green knows it’s the season of Curry flurries.

“We’re right in the hunt. We control our own destiny to guarantee ourselves a playoff spot,” Green said. “[Curry] said it a few months ago, I just want to play meaningful basketball. After every game, he looks at a couple coaches and he says, ‘meaningful basketball.’ So I don’t think it’s necessarily something that’s hyping him up per se, more so than the opportunity to play meaningful basketball. Basketball games that really mean something.

“Us going to the playoffs is a very realistic thing so you start to ramp up of getting to that level you need to be in a couple weeks. So I think it’s kind of just that time. He’s locked in.”

Curry made the All-NBA Third Team last season. The last time he received All-NBA First Team honors was in the 2020-21 season, the fourth time in his career making the First Team.

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Why Steph vs. CP3 matchup is one to watch in Warriors-Spurs game originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Among the more memorable benchmarks behind Stephen Curry’s ascent from shooting ace to global superstar occurred when he executed a dazzling move that took down the NBA’s king of point guards.

Curry’s ruthless dropping of Chris Paul happened 10 years ago but remains an iconic moment in a Warriors career that later yielded two MVP awards, four NBA championships and one NBA Finals MVP award.

And here they are again Wednesday night, meeting for perhaps the final time, when Curry and the Warriors face Paul and the San Antonio Spurs at Chase Center. Coverage on NBC Sports Bay Area begins at with “Warriors Pregame Live” at 6 p.m., with tipoff scheduled for 7.

While the Warriors (47-32) are fighting for a playoff berth, the Spurs have nothing to play for except pride. And no one in the league is more prideful than Paul. He wants the W.

Curry and Paul have been the league’s preeminent point guards over the past 20 seasons. Their styles differed, with Curry building an identity on showmanship and superb shooting, while Paul is the more traditional playmaker and floor general nicknamed the “Point God.”

But how long can they keep going after each other?

Curry turned 37 last month and is under contract to play at least two more years beyond the current. Paul, who turned 40 next month, signed a one-year contract last summer and weighing his options after San Antonio’s season ends this weekend.

“At the end of every season,” Paul recently told ESPN, “I evaluate everything. Evaluate playing. Evaluate how my body feels. But the more years that go by, it’s more conversations with my family, with my kids. They have a lot of say so. They got a lot of input.”

Dating back to Curry’s rookie season in 2009, this will be the 58th meeting – 39 in the regular season, 18 in the playoffs – between the two future Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers. Curry holds a 32-25 record in the regular season, but they’re 9-9 in the postseason.

Their rivalry was interrupted last season when Curry and Paul were teammates in Golden State. They rarely played together, though, as CP3’s primary role was to lead the second unit.

Paul is back in the starting lineup this season in San Antonio. In defiance of his injury history, he has started all 79 games and is on track for the second 82-game season of his 20-year career. His scoring is down, averaging only 8.8 points per game, but he leads the team in assists at 7.5 per game.

Both remain formidable presences, with Curry (averaging 24.4 points and 6.1 assists per game) still the focal point of opposing teams’ scouting reports and Paul given an active leadership role for the next generation Spurs.

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Why Draymond partly blames Steph for his lack of foul calls originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Steph Curry’s lack of foul calls has been a hot topic recently, and Draymond Green believes the Warriors’ star guard is partly to blame.

“I think Steph also gets punished for two things. One is he don’t talk to the referees,” Green said on a recent episode of “The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis.” “They know they’re not going to get cussed out, they know he’s not going to say much. He may say something every now and then, but he don’t say anything. And I think he actually gets penalized for that.

“I also think he gets penalized because he’s not a flopper. He don’t flop to sell calls, so it’s almost as if he’s not getting fouled or it don’t matter because he’s not showing that he’s getting fouled. I think in this league, we reward flopping. it don’t ultimately hurt him because he still does what he does, but it hurts him as far as getting the call and getting to the free-throw line because he don’t flop and he don’t sell the calls.”

Still, Green continues to be blown away by the lack of whistle his teammate gets.

After Curry struggled in Golden State’s 106-96 loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday, finishing with just three points on 1-of-10 shooting from the field and 1 of 8 from 3-point range with zero free-throw attempts in 33 minutes, Jimmy Butler shared that he was astounded by Curry’s lack of foul calls after witnessing it up close since being traded to the Warriors in early February.

“I’ve never seen an individual get fouled more than he gets fouled,” Butler said postgame. “To me, I think that’s astounding. But, you know, it’s crazy to say but he’s used to it. It’s been happening to him his whole career, and he’s found a way through it, around it, under it, whatever you want to call it – that’s tough.”

Green couldn’t agree more with Butler.

“It’s definitely true because I think they fear Steph just as much off the ball if not more than they do on the ball,” Green said. “Off the ball is where he causes so much havoc. Jimmy, with the statement he made, is very true. He’s always been held and grabbed off the ball because you don’t want to get a step behind. So everybody just grabs and holds him.

“So Jimmy’s [statement] is 1,000 percent true. Steph gets fouled more than anybody. It is often times off the ball because you know as soon as he takes off, if you’re half a step off his body, it creates a domino effect because all he needs is half an inch to get the shot off and it’s a great look. So he keeps moving and moving and they grab and hold him. It’s definitely interesting, to say the least.”

Davis also agreed with Butler and his co-host.

“He gets bumped, held, grabbed, pushed off his mark more than any shooter that I’ve ever seen in the league not get those fouls,” Davis added.

Over 16 seasons, Curry averages just 4.3 free throws per game — a notably astonishing dip compared to other stars around the league.

Curry recently explained how he’s used to it by now, calling it his “reality.”

“It’s my reality. I’ve been in this situation for a long time,” Curry told Warriors broadcasters Bob Fitzgerald and Kelenna Azubuike. “It’s like a playoff game. You have to adjust to how the game’s being called.

“You can have a reaction, but you don’t want to let it distract you from what the task is. So I think trying to stay as even-keeled as possible — that doesn’t mean you’re passive or giving into it — you’re kind of fighting through it and not looking to get bailed out even though you feel like it’s not going your way.”

Curry makes up for his lack of foul calls in other ways, though, and through 67 games this season is averaging 24.4 points on 44.7-percent shooting from the field and 39.6 percent from beyond the arc, with 4.4 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.1 steals in 32.1 minutes.

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Where my road dogs at? Fans aiding Celtics' historic away-game success originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The same scene plays out in 29 different NBA cities each time the Boston Celtics roll into town.

The arena doors open, a swarm of green-clad fans invade. Wearing jerseys spanning different eras and carrying signs that detail just how far they traveled to see the Celtics, these fans cram along the tunnel leading to the Boston locker room and roar when players emerge for pregame warmups.

Kristaps Porzingis, a pregame espresso in hand and smile on his face, always takes a moment to soak in the roars before he stats getting up shots. The same fans stick around after the final buzzer to cheer again, often serenading Jayson Tatum with MVP chants when he’s the last one to leave the floor following his postgame interview.

Yes, the Celtics are the Grateful Dead of the NBA. Their fans follow them from city to city to watch each night’s performance. There’s often some green tie-dye in the stands that would most certainly earn Bill Walton’s approval.

That support has helped the Celtics post an NBA-best 33-7 mark on the road this season. On Wednesday night, the C’s have a chance to match the best road record in NBA history.

Boston has already assured itself the best road winning percentage in team history, with the 2024-25 crew set to finish ahead of the 1972-73 Celtics squad that posted a 32-8 mark. The C’s can match the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors’ NBA-best 34-7 road record with a win in Orlando in their regular-season road finale.

When Porzingis gleefully asks, “Where my road doggies at?” in the pregame huddle, his teammates emphatically bark in response. It has become a legitimate rally cry for a Celtics team that has embraced road success since last year’s title run.

“Man, it’s a great feeling,” said Al Horford, who was so struck by the passion of Celtics fans during the Hawks’ first-round playoff victory in 2016 that he signed with Boston that summer.

“It’s just very special, to see our fans taking over other arenas. And chanting the, ‘Let’s Go Celtics!’ and the Tatum MVP chants and all that stuff — that’s something that I embrace, something that I enjoy. I don’t take it for granted. I know that not all teams get that.”

Occasionally, an opposing fan base can stake out a small bit of territory inside TD Garden. The Knicks and Lakers tend to travel well. But it’s almost absurd just how many green shirts and jerseys you’ll find on a random Monday night in Charlotte (maybe some Duke jerseys for Tatum there, too).

“It’s a privilege to play on the road in front of our fans,” said Porzingis. “A lot of times, especially towards the end of the games, when we get all that support, all the, ‘Let’s go Celtics’ chants — I don’t know which other team has this privilege, you know?

“That helps us on the road. It’s been helping us throughout the year. And there’s no other organization and no other fans like the Celtics fans.”

Echoed Jaylen Brown: “It’s amazing … Our fans, they travel. They take the time to show up to our games on the road. … That gives us an extra bit of motivation.”

Like any road team, the Celtics hear their share of jeers as well. But that’s music to the ears of head coach Joe Mazzulla.

“You appreciate both. When you hear the good, you appreciate it because it shows that you’re a part of something bigger than yourself,” said Mazzulla. “And when you hear the bad, you appreciate it because it shows you’ve got a lot more work to do. So they’re both great.”

The Celtics benefited for home-court advantage throughout last year’s title run but are faced with the prospects of having to start series on the road against both the Cavaliers and Thunder, should higher seeds prevail in the postseason.

Boston’s road success ought to leave fans confident in the team’s ability to overcome that potential obstacle. The Celtics are 11-1 on the road since the All-Star break, with their only loss coming on the second night of a back-to-back against a red-hot Pistons team.

In fact, you’d have to go back to January 15 in Toronto to find the last road loss that wasn’t on the tail end of a back-to-back. Boston is 17-1 on the road since a January 25 win in Dallas.

Most remember the 2015-16 Warriors more for their 73 regular-season wins than their road dominance. Alas, all that success came with a rather large asterisk after they fell to the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.

This Boston team has carved out another piece of real estate in the Celtics’ record books with its historic road success this season. But it will be remembered even more fondly if it can deliver a second consecutive title.

To get there, the Celtics almost certainly will have to thrive in hostile environments again. But those environments seem a little less hostile given all the green that tends to invade.

Luka Dončić didn’t wait for his much-anticipated return to Dallas to crank up the drama.

The night before he faces the franchise with which he spent his first six-and-a-half NBA seasons, he was ejected from the Los Angeles Lakers’ 136-120 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Dončić scored 23 points on Tuesday night before his ejection. He said he was talking trash back and forth with a fan, but the officials thought he was directing abuse at a referee and he was ejected after picking up a second technical foul.

Related: ‘He has two major flaws’: Luka Dončić’s biographer on the Lakers star

“If [the fan is] going to talk, I’m going to talk back, like always,” said Dončić. “That had nothing to do with the ref. So I didn’t really understand.”

The crew chief, Tony Brothers, said Dončić had “looked directly at an official and used vulgar language.”

The fan in question, Jeremy Price, told ESPN he believed Dončić was shouting at him rather than a referee. “During the game within the game, I mentioned that he was short [on his shot] and he missed it, and he turned around and he shot an expletive back and [the referee] happened to see it and, at that point, T’d him up,” Price said.

The ejection affected the trajectory of the game. The Thunder outscored the Lakers 29-12 the rest of the way.

“I mean, it was tough,” Dončić said. “I mean, we were right there. I think we fought the whole game. … We came back in the third quarter. We were fighting, man. So it was tough to see that with this kind of situation to happen. And you know, that’s on me too, so I can’t let my team down like that.”

Now, Dončić can focus on the Mavericks – the team he led to the NBA finals just last season after winning the scoring title. The five-time All-Star was among those who were shocked when he was traded for Anthony Davis in February.

Though Dončić says he has bonded with his new teammates, he looks forward to being back in Dallas.

“Of course that’s going to be a lot of emotion for me,” he said. “Like, how do we know what to expect? I don’t know how I’m going to feel, honestly. I’m looking forward to being back in Dallas. Obviously, with the fans, seeing my teammates – ex-teammates – it’s going to be a very emotional for me, for sure.”

Dončić is averaging 27.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.6 assists in 26 games with the Lakers. Mavericks coach Jason Kidd is well aware of the damage the versatile guard can inflict.

“He’s playing incredible, but that’s Luka,” Kidd said. “Luka’s one of the best players in the world. You’ve got to be able to show different defenses, and that’s even hard. When you look at what he’s doing – he’s shooting the 3, he’s getting to the rim and to the free-throw line and he’s setting the table for his teammates. Our defense will be tested.”

LeBron James, who has had a few returns throughout his career, said he expects Dončić to be received warmly.

“I think he’ll get a standing ovation and they’ll clap and cheer,” James said. “You’ll hear his name a lot. That’s what I’m expecting.”

James said the team is prepared to help Dončić work through the unusual circumstances.

“Whatever he needs,” James said. “I think winning will be the best solution.”

Luka Doncic heard the story and barely could believe it.

Tim Marovt also was once a prodigy, identified early as one of the best athletes in Slovenia. Marovt had a goal to become a world-class skier along with the skills and passion to become one of the best to come out of his country. Doncic had lived that life too, moving from basketball prodigy to European teen sensation to NBA megastar.

It wasn’t so straightforward for Marovt. Doncic had locked in as the skinny kid shared what he’d gone through.

Marovt traveled to Hawaii for a family vacation in 2014, the 12-year-old already on his way to achieving his sporting dreams. But a single day surfing in the Pacific Ocean changed all of those plans, a freak injury called surfer’s myelopathy shattering those dreams and putting seemingly impossible obstacles in his way.

“After 30 minutes of surfing, I felt a little tired and went to hotel room. Everything was OK, but I felt something unusual in my back. It was not painful but just like a weird feeling,” Marovt remembered. “So I went back to hotel room. I took a shower and laid down for a couple of minutes in my bed. And after 15 minutes I went to use the restroom but I fell on the bed. I was immediately paralyzed from my waist down.”

He was rushed to a hospital where doctors told him that if his condition didn’t improve in the next 72 hours, he’d spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

“I was very young but I didn't doubt myself for a single moment," he said. "Since that young age, I was so focused. When I see something, I'll do anything to achieve it.”

Doncic first heard the story in the 2A Sports Lab in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the gym where they both trained with Anze Macek.

Doncic was there to get ready for a season with the Dallas Mavericks. Marovt, who had been through hell trying to take a single stride, was there training for a marathon.

“It was so inspiring,” Doncic told The Times. “… It was kind of amazing just to hear. I mean, what happened to him was horrible. So just to get his mind to do everything he's doing now, it's unbelievable.”

That day in Hawaii, Marovt accepted the challenge and not his fate, soon taking the first step toward conquering adversity. And if Marovt could work to take his next steps, the least Doncic could do when facing his biggest NBA challenge would be to do the same.

Wednesday, Doncic takes another step in his new life as a member of the Lakers when his team plays in Dallas for the first time since the Mavericks traded him — a decision that led to protests and open wounds in a fan base that hasn’t recovered.

Doncic has fared better, the Lakers star regaining his form as his new team pushes toward the postseason in the best position it's been in since it won a title in 2020 as the West’s top seed.

Yet the process to get Doncic back to being the behind-the-head passing, on-court-screaming maestro has been incremental.

A mixture of shock, sadness and anger lived all over Doncic’s face, it dripped on every word and highlighted every expression on his first day as a Laker. The Mavericks had just very publicly bet against him, had pushed him off the path he thought he was staying on forever and into the unknown.

The first days in Los Angeles were more about the past than the future. But in the chaos there was a principal that Doncic and the people closest to him tried to reinforce. Things would get better, the new would become natural, the discomfort would become ease.

They knew he’d work his way through the challenge.

Doncic and his support staff were stunned by the trade and especially stung by Dallas’ rationale, reasons he believed were personal and questioned his character and work ethic. The notion that he doesn’t work hard, in particular, upset him.

“They have no idea,” Doncic told The Times of those doubters. “… I didn't end up here by mistake. You know? I worked my ass to be here. So it's kinda, I would say disrespectful, just sad that people say that.”

Read more:Luka Doncic and Lakers make a statement in blowout win over NBA-leading Thunder

Since joining the Lakers, people close to the team have praised Doncic for his work to get healthy after missing 22 games because of a calf strain. He’s been a constant presence at the optional workouts while continuing his work with Macek and Javier Barrio, his fitness and medical coaches who are now on staff with the Lakers.

Doncic and the Lakers acknowledge there are ways to get the most out of him, a player who spent his teenage years as a young pro in Spain going through highly regimented, drill-based training with soccer club Real Madrid. It’s far from his preferred process of work.

“I always say, you know, I’ve always got better at the game when I was playing five-on-five, one-on-one, two-and-two in practice,” Doncic told the Times. “That's what I always see that I'm most improved when I play that way in practice.”

It’s why Doncic has found ways to add competition to the noncompetitive parts of his routine, his pregame on-court workout featuring a lengthy menu of trick shots, including a half-court contest that ends with either Doncic or Lakers coaches Greg St. Jean and Ty Abbott doing pushups.

“When you’re not challenging him in practice, it’s really hard to get the best out of him,” Macek told The Times with a laugh.

Doncic acknowledged the same Sunday after the Lakers beat the Thunder in Oklahoma City, saying that the pressure from Lugentz Dort, one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA, helped push him to another level.

“It brings the competitive spirit out of me,” he said. “It brings the best out of me.”

Macek’s been in the gym with Marovt and Doncic and has seen the ways their approaches are very different. And he’s seen the ways they’re the same.

For Marovt, there was intense work with visualization and mind power. Doncic isn’t so into that.

“I would say I’m more reactionary,” Doncic said.,

But Macek has seen the way both have responded to doubt and used it as fuel.

“When he was 15 years old, he barely walk,” Macek remembered of Marovt. “He came with the crutches … totally out of shape. He couldn't lift his legs. He couldn't move well. But what I saw in his eyes was this passion to improve … to do something big. He was so motivated. And I said, ‘OK, I need to help this kid.’”

Macek surveyed the damage done to Marovt by the spinal and nerve injuries, the tightness in his muscles, the disconnected pathways between his brain and legs that made every step a challenge.

But like Doncic, Marovt needed to be challenged. He needed goals to conquer.

“Some challenges were not-so-big goals. We didn't say in the beginning that he will run marathons,” Macek said. “But we said, ‘OK, you'll walk without walking sticks or without crutches one kilometer.' … When we will reach this, we will go, we will set another goal like, ‘OK, now you need to bend your knee. You need to, to lift your leg.' And every time when we pass those goals, we just advance, advance, advance.

“When he reached the goals and we set other goals, this motivated him. And with this kind of motivation, he was alive.”

Marovt sees the same thing in Doncic, the thrill of accomplishing something big accompanied by the rush from proving others wrong.

“I like that when people say that I'm not able to do that. Now when I run marathons, everybody say, ‘Tim, but you will injure your hips. You are damaging your body.’ And I'm just, ‘Yep, just keep going. Just keep going because I like to take big challenges.' … And I think this is also with Luka, he likes big challenges. He loves when people doubt him. Especially like that trade.”

The biggest challenges for the Lakers are still to come, the playoffs set to start at the end of next week with the goal of Doncic winning his first NBA championship coming into focus. Wednesday in Dallas will be full of emotion, reminding Doncic of what he lost when the Mavericks traded him — a fan base that adored him, a city that he thought would be home his entire career.

Yet luckily for the Lakers, it’ll remind Doncic that the Mavericks ultimately didn’t believe in him for their future. And Marovt knows how people like him and Doncic handle hearing things like that.

“We have the same habits here because we get more excited and more motivated when people think it's not possible. And we just like to work hard and just show up and show everybody that they were wrong,” Marovt said. “Don't get me wrong, this is not personally to just to prove something to somebody else. Of course, in the first stage, everything we do is for our own [self]. But yeah, I think this is just to get more motivated to keep going and to show the world that everything is possible if we really put our mind into it and work hard.

“And since Luka got traded, I know that in a few weeks, he would be unstoppable.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.