Patrick Mahomes is looking to make history next week in New Orleans as he tries to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to the first three-peat in the Super Bowl era. However, while Mahomes is trying to focus on the Philadelphia Eagles for work, his favorite NBA team went out and made the most shocking trade of the last decade (and maybe ever).
Mahomes is a diehard Dallas Mavericks fan and, like most every Mavs fan on Saturday night/early Sunday morning, found himself in the midst of an existential crisis when he learned the team was trading its franchise player, Luka Doncic (and others), to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis (and a bit more). Mahomes is a huge Luka guy, as pretty much everyone who roots for the Mavs is, and the news of the stunning trade had him feeling ill.
I can’t blame Mahomes. There’s really no justifying this move from the Mavs perspective in the immediate, as Doncic has been a top-5 player in the NBA and, while Anthony Davis is fantastic, moving your home-grown, still-not-yet-in-his-prime superstar for a guy six years his elder is a really hard sell. The Mavs’ reported reasoning is concern with paying Doncic his next extension given the “constant conditioning issues” he’s had — with his current absence with a calf injury potentially being the final straw. The problem with getting fans to buy in on that line of thinking is the man has career averages of 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game and just led the team to the Finals while, yes, looking a little chunky.
The Chiefs will hope Mahomes can shake off his Mavs-inflicted heartache, and I guess the good thing for Kansas City is it happened on their off-week before the Super Bowl and not the night before, giving him some time to process.
