Jason Kidd might have his teams mixed up in the famed Yankees-Red Sox sale of Babe Ruth back in 1919.
Before the Mavericks hosted the Lakers — and Luka Dončić — on Wednesday in Dallas for the first time since the seismic deal in early February, the Dallas head coach reflected on the trade and called it “kinda cool” that some have compared the trade to the Ruth deal that’s the starting point in the “Curse of the Bambino.”
“This is a business,” Kidd told reporters. “It happens, right? Trades happen. This won’t be the last trade. Someone compared it to Babe Ruth, which is kinda cool.”
In this deal, though, the Mavericks would be the Red Sox, at least as of now.
They’re the team that parted ways with a generational superstar and didn’t receive much — Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a first-round pick — in return, similar to how Boston received just $100,000 in return for the player who helped the Yankees win four World Series.
And when the Red Sox didn’t win another title until 2004, the 86-year drought and the deal that sent Ruth to their rival became inseparable.
The Lakers, in a sense, are already one of the league’s most powerful teams, with LeBron James as their focal point, and they entered Wednesday night as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
Dončić, who averaged 27.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game across his first 26 contests with the Lakers, also dealt with plenty of criticism about his work ethic and conditioning following the deal, but when asked about that notion recently, he told the Los Angeles Times that “they have no idea.”
“I didn’t end up here by mistake,” Dončić told the outlet. “You know? I worked my ass off to be here. So it’s kinda, I would say disrespectful, just sad that people say that.”
When the Lakers hosted the Mavericks on Feb. 25 for their first meeting since the blockbuster, Dončić produced a triple-double to propel the win.
And in his first game back at the venue he called home for the six-plus years of his career, his first time playing in front of the fans who watched him guide their team to the NBA Finals just last season, Dončić appeared to become emotional while watching a video tribute before the game.