Luka Doncic Will Never Let Vlade Divac Forget About Passing on Him

Doncic taunted the former GM after finishing off the Kings.

Dallas Mavericks v Sacramento Kings / Thearon W. Henderson/GettyImages

The Dallas Mavericks beat the Sacramento Kings,107-103, on Friday night. Kings legend Vlade Divac, the former vice president of basketball operations and general manager, treated himself to courtside seats for the game, but probably wishes he had stayed home. As Luka Doncic hit a free throw to put the game away with four seconds remaining, the Mavs star turned and said something to Divac while running back to the bench.

Video appeared to show Doncic telling people on the bench that the Kings should have drafted him. He then continued to point back at Divac and repeat himself as he walked off the court following the final horn.

Luka Doncic as he puts away the Kings tonight in Sacramento with his final free throw, then as the final horn sounds, waves goodbye to former Kings GM Vlade Divac seated courtside and says "he shoulda' drafted me." pic.twitter.com/6j26cLprxA

— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) March 30, 2024

Divac was the Kings general manager in 2018 when the team passed on Doncic and drafted Marvin Bagley III. Doncic went on to win Rookie of the Year and has been a perennial All-Star who has taken the Mavericks to the playoffs three times, including a run to the Western Conference Finals in 2022. That was the same season the Kings finally gave up and traded Bagley to the Detroit Pistons.

As if Doncic's reminder of that draft mistake wasn't enough, the Kings missed out on a great opportunity to inch a game closer to the Mavericks, who are currently the No. 6 seed in the West. As it stands right now, the Kings are headed for the Play-In Tournament.

Doncic finished with 26 points, 12 assists and was one assist shy of a triple-double. The Mavericks are 10-1 in their last 11 games with their only loss coming when Doncic didn't play. Suffice to say, Dallas does not regret their pick.

Stephen Douglas is a writer at The Big Lead.