Loyalty Part 2 - Luka Doncic

By now I'm sure you have heard the cracking sound of hearts breaking all over the Dallas area as our super-star, Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, has been traded to our divisional enemies, The Los Angeles Lakers. I admit I am crushed, and the trade has cast a pall over the city. Working through my emotions and observing various social media posts about the issue has made me reconsider the idea of loyalty to an organization. My last blog post was on loyalty to your boss or to the organization and the pros and cons. But what are the lessons to be learned from Luka's situation regarding loyalty?

Luka wanted to spend his entire career with the Dallas Mavericks. He has been very open about this. I think this sense of loyalty came to him after seeing Dirk Nowitzki wrap up his storied career (41*21*1 for those who know!), and see how the city loved #41. Dirk's goodbye event was so memorable in 2019 without a dry eye in the house because they honored him by bringing all of his basketball idols to his final game to surprise and pay tribute to him. To see Dirk standing there with his beautiful wife and gorgeous kids as they raised his jersey to the rooftop, you could almost see that Luka felt that someday down the road, he too would get this heartwarming adoration, and he would be rewarded for his loyalty to our city and team.

But Luka's loyalty to the franchise was not returned and he was treated like many employees are treated - he was let go and sent to another team without a clue of why and without any consideration or discussion from team leadership. He was unceremoniously dumped late one Saturday night and saw the news in the media instead of from his boss. As other players have noted, if it could happen to Luka, it could happen to anyone. #blindsided

I have many thoughts on the trade and let's just say I've thought about everything from voodoo dolls to writing Luka a letter of encouragement every week for the next year. But exclusively wearing my leadership hat, here are three things we can all learn from how this whole thing went down:

1. The lack of empathy and care that went into Luka's trade is shocking. I would not do this to any employee who I have worked with ----- and especially a superstar like Luka. It's still a business but we can handle ourselves with kindness and empathy and still get the job done. In my mind, Nico Harrison (the Maverick's general manager) should have driven over to Luka's house on the day of the trade and told him what was going on. He deserved that much, and all of our employees deserve a conversation such as this when it is time to part ways.

2. As leaders, when a change like this is going to happen, there needs to be a communications plan to go with it. None of this shooting-from-the-hip crap - there should be a list of people who need a personal conversation, and your team wants to hear about a dismissal like this in person. All the communication should be on a timeline with consistent messaging and FAQs. Nico was on his own and every time he opened his mouth; he made it worse. Nico lacked empathy and had a weird smile and flippant attitude as he shared the news while his organization and the city were in shock.

3. To justify the decision, the Mav's organization started sharing unfavorable comments about Luka --- he's not great in the locker room, he's out of shape, we're worried about his drinking, he's a risk to the organization ----- and Luka has refuted all the claims. My opinion is that Nico is trying to save face by trying to make Luka look bad. As a leader: NEVER DO THIS! NEVER BAD MOUTH AN EMPLOYEE AFTER A LAYOFF. Have some class for goodness' sake and take the high road. With every innuendo, the organization looks petty and unappreciative of all that Luka gave to basketball.

We can be business leaders and still be humane in how we treat people. In Luka's situation, he is said to be "seething" and I think all of basketball should be on the lookout for the Luka Revenge Tour. I for one hope he tears it up! I don't like seeing his #77 on a Laker's jersey, but I hope he gets the satisfaction of winning a championship and getting all the accolades he deserves. Time will tell if Nico Harrison's view of "we are focused on the short term" will result in a championship for Dallas, but all the joy from such an endeavor is gone for many fans. Just like when a company has a layoff ---- the remaining employees are constantly looking over their shoulders and wondering when their turn will come. It is not too much to ask leaders to handle difficult decisions with care --- the Dallas Mavericks blew it. It doesn't have to be like this.