The Jordan Brand Put Out A Perfect Promo Ahead Of Luka Doncic's First Game Against The Mavs

Jamie Schwaberow. Getty Images.

Unless you've been living under a rock (or are a normal person and have just been going about your business living your life), we have a big time showdown in the NBA tonight. For the first time since the Luka Doncic Trade, the Mavs and Lakers will finally play each other. It's a little disappointing the game is being played in LA and not Dallas, but whatever. I think it goes without saying that ALL eyes are going to be on Luka and what he does tonight against the franchise that not only bailed on him, but did everything they could to slander his name while kicking him out the door.

As a reminder, this is how things have looked for Luka recently

Even with his faults, I think if there's one thing you can say about Luka it's that when he has the proper motivation and is operating fully out of hatred and spite, he can be a pretty devastating player. Sure his on ball defense is still dogshit, sure things haven't always looked great in his short stint as a Laker, but in a game like tonight none of that matters to me. This is your classic "scorned lover" situation where you just know Luka has had this date circled on his calendar since the trade. How could he not? And now that he's maybe feeling a little more comfortable in LA and is maybe in a little bit better of game shape now that he's played a few games, would it shock anyone if he went absolutely nuts tonight? I'm talking like 35/14/13 with a plethora of "Fuck You" style stepback 3s that are followed by Luka screaming something in Slovenian. Basically, a Rudy Gobert 2.0 situation if you catch my drift

(my apologies if this triggered any Mavs fans that may have clicked on this blog but…ya know)

If I'm the Lakers, I'm treating this like Kobe's final game where he took every single shot (60 points on 50 shots). I get that the more important part would be beating a team that you're in a seeding race with, but for this one night? Spam the shit out of Luka FGA because chances are this may be one of the most locked-in and spiteful games Luka has ever played.

You know who agrees with that? The Jordan Brand

Look, I despise everything about the Lakers with the fire of a thousand suns and always will, but even I can't deny how awesome that promo is. The song choice? A+. The plate change? Simple and effective. Using his favorite supercar? I'm pretty sure that's not even Luka in the promo but I don't even really care about that. The point gets across just fine.

All I'm saying is you don't put out something like this all for a night where Luka takes 12 shots and finishes with like 18/8/8. Not when the game is on TNT for the world to see. Not after all the shit the Mavs immediately tried to leak after the trade to shift the narrative. The only way you deal with that is by letting Luka have his way with his former team. I'm sure he'll take the high road in all the interviews and whatnot, but we're not dumb. We all know how he must truly feel, and some of the best basketball performances in NBA history are fueled by hatred and spite. 

So while my heart will be rooting for the Mavs because it's fuck the Lakers forever, I do hope we get a vintage Luka showing just to serve as the latest reminder of how insane this whole thing is. It still looks VERY weird to see Luka play in Lakers colors, and I imagine seeing him tonight against the Mavs is going to be equally bizarre.