Scheffler and Spieth, two PGA Tour golfers with Dallas ties, have recently expressed their own consternation with the Mavericks’ trade of superstar Luka Dončić
Yes, it’s another post about our prolonged frustration with Luka Dončić being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Yes, it’s been four months since the Dallas Mavericks traded Dončić to the Lakers and a future second-round NBA Draft pick to the Utah Jazz in return for Anthony Davis, Cormac Karl “Max” Christie and a future first-rounder.
No, we’re not going to shut up about it and simply move on. Never. Move. On. That’s my stance at least, and I have the microphone (you clicked the link to hate-read this take) so you will listen to every damn word I have to say, to quote Adam Sandler’s Robbie Hart from the 1998 smash rom-com hit “The Wedding Singer.”
There appear to be two more high-profile Mavericks fans who aren’t riding with Team Get Over It. Fist pounds and solidarity go out to PGA stars Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth, both of whom have strong Dallas ties and both of whom in recent days and weeks have spoken out about their own state of perplexity with their home team after the Mavs gave away Dončić’s generational talent and getting about 1⁄4 of his worth in return.
In an April appearance on former NFL star Rob Gronkowski’s podcast, during which Spieth overhauls the ex-tight end’s golf swing, Spieth put it plainly.
“Yea, it hurt.”
That pain was magnified once again just days ago when guard Desmond Bane was traded from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Orlando Magic as part of a package that sent four first-round picks, a pick swap and two players back to Memphis in exchange for the swingman. The Grizz got all that back for a guy who’s never made an NBA All-Star team, as Mavs fans everywhere continue to hang their heads and kick rocks down the driveway.
“If you’re going to pay anybody in the world in any sport, how is he not the guy to pay?Spieth asked. “As a Mavs fan, we rolled from 20 years of Dirk [Nowitzki] right into Luka. They played together for a year, and you’re like, ‘Good, we’ve got the next 20 years with Luka.’ [There’s] 10 different ways I can’t figure it out.”
Even more recently, in the lead-up to last week’s US Open, Scheffler was asked if his interest in the ongoing NBA Finals would affect his schedule during the tournament. Scheffler is also a Mavs fan and took great interest in the 2016 Finals, which also coincided with that year’s NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Scheffler gave a chuckle before answering the question.
“This year’s finals is probably not going to affect my schedule as much,” Scheffler said. “I think Golden State was playing Cleveland in the Finals, and I really wanted to watch that because you had LeBron playing Steph. You know, ever since the Mavs traded Luka, I’ve just been a little bit bummed watching the NBA. It hurts a little bit still.”
Scottie Scheffler says it hurts to watch the NBA ever since the Mavs traded Luka Dončić
Source: TSN Canada pic.twitter.com/fvzBctM41x
— Luka Updates (@LukaUpdates) June 18, 2025
Spieth was born in Dallas in 1993 and went to Jesuit College Preparatory School. He learned golf at Brookhaven Country Club. Scheffler was born in Ridgeway, New Jewsey, but grew up in Dallas and played golf as a youngster at Royal Oaks Country Club. He went to Highland Park High School. Both Scheffler and Spieth played college golf at the University of Texas at Austin.
And neither of them sound like they’re ready to go on about their NBA fandom as if everything is ok and normal just because a few months have passed since the worst trade in NBA history.
Just sayin’.