"Someone questioned his work ethic?" : Lakers fans subliminaly diss Nico Harrison as Luka Doncic stays late at practice ahead of Game 2
Ahead of Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday, Luka Doncic was reportedly the last to leave the LA Lakers' practice on the day prior. Doncic seemingly put in extra reps of shooting practice to help the team bounce back from their Game 1 loss.
Reacting to footage of the same, fans took to X, formerly Twitter, to share their opinions, with some taking a slight jab at Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison for trading Doncic.
"Someone questioned his work ethic, no?" a fan tweeted.
"But he's fat and lazy right?" a fan tweeted.
"The leader doing leader things. Lead by example. #FIRENico," a fan tweeted.
Meanwhile, others were hyped to see Doncic put in the work ahead of Tuesday's game.
"U don’t poke the bear," a fan tweeted.
"He locked in," a fan tweeted.
"Pray for Ant and Rudy tonight 🙏🏽" a fan tweeted.
Luka Doncic's extra reps paid off in the game as he led the LA Lakers to an 85-94 win in Game 2. The star guard recorded a double-double of 31 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists and a block while shooting 9-of-20 as the Lakers evened out the series against the Timberwolves.
Nico Harrison admits he misjudged Luka Doncic's popularity with Mavericks fans before Lakers trade
Luka Doncic's trade to the LA Lakers during his prime sent shockwaves in the NBA world, especially in the Dallas Mavericks fanbase who were left stunned and disgruntled. In the aftermath of the trade, GM Nico Harrison admitted during the end-of-season presser on Monday that he misjudged Doncic's popularity with the fans, as many called for his termination.
"I did know that Luka was important to the fanbase," Harrison said. "I didn’t quite know it to what level."
Despite that, Nico Harrison continued to hold firm in his stance, sharing that it was the right move for building a championship-contending team, which could not reach close to fruition given the multitude of injuries their star players suffered.
"We feel that’s a championship-caliber team and we would have been winning at a high level and that would have quieted some of the outrage," Harrison said. "And so unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that, so it just continued to go on and on."
While Luka Doncic and the LA Lakers are battling to advance in the playoffs, the Dallas Mavericks were eliminated in the play-in tournament after making the NBA Finals last season.