Yahoo Sports senior NBA reporter Vincent Goodwill is joined by fantasy basketball analyst Dan Titus to discuss the Lakers star’s first game against his former team in Texas – in which we went off for 45 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Hear the full conversation on “Good Word with Goodwill” and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
That man looked absolutely miserable, Dan, when they were playing that 3-minute video tribute before they announced him.
He looked despondent.
He looked, he put the towel over his face, his eyes were red, all that stuff.
And then Dan, he came and gave them the beats.
31 of his 45 in the first half, they run away with the game in the 4th quarter, turns into a laugher.
The fire Nico chants, which were really weird.
The way that Luca was cheered every time he dribbled the ball.
Like it was literally one of the more bizarre scenes I’ve ever seen.
You tell me what stuck out.
It was a good moment.
Like, I don’t think I’ve ever seen.
I’m wondering what was more surprising.
Was it like Luca going from 45, 8, and 6.
I thought he was gonna go off, but how emotional he was.
The tribute video, I’m not a fan of tribute videos.
I talked about the Jimmy Butler one before, but this one was like warranted and necessary.
There was still a lot of healing that needs to be done in the Dallas fan base.
And I think maybe he was caught off guard by the adulation that he got.
Everybody was decked out in some kind of Luca attire, whether it was a Lakers jersey, Dallas jersey.
Cuban was in the building.
There’s a lot of emotions and for him to perform at that level, that was special.
I didn’t feel anything for Nico Harrison.
Like, I’m surprised he was in the building.
I’m surprised he even showed his face, to be honest.
Show up.
You can’t run from that smoke.
I mean, he’s gotta run from that smoke cause that you’re embarrassing yourself at that point cause I, I love how the camera just kept on going from, let’s see the Lakers and how they’re celebrating Luca and then let’s go to this guy in the corner in the tunnel that’s like barely showing himself in the arena.
Hey, at least he got one sell out for the rest of the year, but I don’t think he’s gonna be getting much more.
The thing that stuck out to me, like the whole crying thing.
You ever seen Dan, or maybe you could be this person, like, I don’t know, right?
The person who cries right before they’re about to fight and then they give you the beats and that’s what that was last night for Lugaonic.
He needed something cathartic in a way, the Dallas Maverick.
Fans needed something cathartic since the trade happened on February 2nd.
It was just a funeral every day for that franchise and those fans, and then boom, you rolled back the stone and here comes Luca for a one-night engagement.
So guess what?
The Dallas Mavericks played a road game last week.
They played a road game last night.
That was the first ever road game for a home team.
