Luka Doncic is flashing his potential with the Los Angeles Lakers. The newest Laker Doncic exploded in the first quarter then lobbed an alley-oop to LeBron James on Saturday versus Denver. But now comes his most highly anticipated game yet against the Dallas Mavericks — which got DeMarcus Cousins thinking a “shark” will come out of Doncic.
The FanDuel NBA analyst and four-time league all-star weighed in on Doncic’s first game against the team that traded him. The Mavericks boldly sent their face of the franchise to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis and multiple other players earlier in February. Cousins believes Doncic will channel the mindset of a shark ahead of Tuesday’s battle.
Cousins himself has been in the shoes of Doncic. He got traded before — and couldn’t wait to face his former team.
“When I made my return to the team that traded me, I was a shark in bloody water. I expect nothing less from Luka. I think it’s [gonna] be a lot of emotion,” Cousins said.
“When I made my return to the team that traded me, I was a shark in bloody water. I expect nothing less from Luka. I think it’s [gonna] be a lot of emotion.”
DeMarcus Cousins on Luka Doncic’s matchup against the Mavs
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— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 24, 2025
Doncic will be coming out of the home locker room inside Crypto Arena, after so many seasons of coming out of the visitors section in past Lakers-Mavericks battles. But this Western Conference showdown is anticipated to draw millions of views.
Ex-Mavericks teammate downplaying facing Luka Doncic and Lakers
Cousins believes Doncic will carry a chip on his shoulder (or smell blood like a shark) for this contest. Davis, who won the 2020 NBA title with the Lakers, likely is bringing his own emotions inside his past home arena.
But this game impacts Kyrie Irving too. The Mavs star will face old pal Doncic for the first time since the blockbuster Feb. 8 trade. Many will believe Irving will get psyched about the battle.
However, Irving is keeping his emotions in check. He downplayed the battle.
“High level basketball game,” Irving said to reporters on Sunday. “A lot of good players on the floor at once. Outside of just the obvious of us being in L.A., being a former team of Luka’s, obviously the narrative’s already written. I don’t know what else I can really add to that.”
So what is Irving telling the Mavericks ahead of the much-anticipated showdown?
“I’m pretty much focused in telling my guys just to focus on the high level game we’ve got to win,” Irving said. “I would love to get into the emotions after the game with you, but before the game it’s just about having fun and making sure that we lock in.”
Irving will indeed lock in. But the feeling is Doncic will become his own elasmobranch fish and turn Crypto Arena into his own hunting ground.
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