Nico just lit a fire under Luka Doncic over brutal flaw that held him back in Dallas

February 1, 2025, will always be known as one of the most heartbreaking days in Dallas Mavericks history.

That is the day that Dallas shockingly traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis in the middle of the night, and nothing has been the same since. Even though Dallas recently won the NBA Draft Lottery, aka the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes, fans still miss Doncic tremendously and wish that he were able to finish his career as a Maverick like he wanted to.

Nico Harrison was the one responsible for the Doncic trade, as he didn't believe that Doncic's conditioning, off-court habits, complaining to the referees, or leadership would improve (among other reasons). Harrison's choice to trade Doncic has made him a villain among Mavericks fans, but it also woke up a beast inside of Doncic.

Nico Harrison woke up a monster inside of Luka Doncic

With Doncic being traded to the Lakers, largely for his conditioning struggles, it has made him work harder than he ever has before. According to Jason Gallagher, the Head of Production for The Young Man and the Three, Doncic has already started to work hard to fix his conditioning problem (which JJ Redick indirectly addressed at the end of the season).

"Luka has already begun to clean slate, like starting anew," Gallagher said on The Dumb Zone. "He's already in this mindset of changing a lot about himself."

Doncic likely knows that his body and conditioning haven't been where they need to be at different points of his career, and while this criticism has been overblown at times, it's clear that Harrison trading him out of nowhere has motivated him like no other and caused him to step back and look at himself in the mirror.

Doncic never forgets when others talk badly about him, and while Harrison denied ever saying anything bad about Doncic during his end-of-season press conference, Doncic obviously feels differently. He said that he didn't know why Harrison was saying these things about him months after the trade went down, and as revenge for changing his life in the blink of an eye and sending him to Los Angeles, he scored 45 points with Harrison watching from the tunnel to lead the Lakers to a 112-97 win at his old fortress.

Doncic took Harrison's decision to trade him personally, and we likely haven't even seen the best version of him yet. He still has tons of room to grow, and if he transforms his conditioning this summer and carries good habits into the regular season, the league could see a different Doncic that will be more dialed in than before.

He's already one of the greatest offensive players of this era, and if he can improve his defense while improving his stamina and conditioning, the sky is the limit. Half of the battle on defense is effort, and as Doncic's conditioning improves, it will only help him give more effort and turn into a better defender.

This summer could end up being one of the most crucial offseasons of Doncic's career, and Harrison truly may have gifted him the perfect motivation to go on a revenge tour. Doncic knows how hard he has worked over the years, and everything in him will be focused on winning a championship for the Lakers while showing Harrison that he never should have traded him along the way.