Mavs' Michael Finley Took Luka Doncic's Beer Away After Conference Finals Win

In this story:

The Minnesota Timberwolves' defense was powerless to stop Luka Dončić last night as the Dallas Mavericks clinched an NBA Finals spot by destroying all joy in the Twin Cities. Dončič scored 36 points in the rout, the same number as his backcourt mate Kyrie Iriving. Twenty of those came in an incredible first quarter and afforded him the opportunity to comfortably talk trash to Snoop Dogg for the rest of the proceedings. In fact, he didn't face much resistance in doing what he wanted until after the game when he was downing a beer in the hallway while talking to his dad and Mavericks vice president of operations Michael Finley decided to relieve him of his beverage.

The result is a funny clip because Finley was super smooth with his operation and Dončić immediately realizes that he'll never see that particular beer ever again. No matter, of course, because there were more where that came from.

The best part about watching the video circulate widely is seeing a whole new generation discover who Michael Finley is and what he did. It's very satisfying to see people question who that guy is and quickly pivot to realizing that he's one of the few people who could swipe the suds away from Luka and walk away unchallenged.


Published
Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.