‘Don’t ever compare a GOAT to a cat’: Ron Harper takes issue with unique Luka-M.J. trade comparison

In a move that seemingly has plenty of folks around the league still in shock, the Dallas Mavericks traded the longtime face of their franchise in guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package that included big man Anthony Davis.

Part of what makes the move surprising from Dallas’ side of the coin is that Doncic is so youthful, and his most dominant seasons in the league perhaps have yet to come.

One X user likened the way Mavs fans feel to how Chicago Bulls fans would have felt if the team traded franchise legend Michael Jordan in the early 1990s. The user called the comparison at least 80 percent accurate. Former NBA guard Ron Harper, who played with Jordan, took exception to the idea.

Harper spent 15 seasons in the NBA with four different teams. He won three straight titles with Chicago in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

It’s probably bold to compare the Mavericks trading Doncic to the Bulls getting rid of a young Jordan. While the X user didn’t specify an exact year for the hypothetical Jordan trade, the Bulls legend was a three-time NBA champion and three-time MVP by the end of the 1992-93 season.

Doncic, meanwhile, has a lot of basketball left in his NBA career and plenty to prove. He also already has more series losses in the NBA Finals than Jordan had during his entire pro tenure and didn’t play at the top of his game against the Boston Celtics in the 2024 championship series.

Doncic did average 29.2 points per game in his first NBA Finals last season, but he struggled when it came to 3-point shooting, free-throw shooting, ball security and defense.

Still, Doncic was beloved in Dallas, and he’s indisputably one of the best players in the league already. The heartbreak Mavs fans are feeling is certainly valid as they cope with losing such a special player.

Doncic will hope to redeem himself for his play in last season’s championship series and get the Lakers back to the promised land later this year. Los Angeles hasn’t reached the NBA Finals since the year 2020, when the Lakers won the title after beating the Miami Heat in six games.