Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks moved into the driver’s seat of their first round series against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday. Behind 22 points in a near triple-double from Doncic and a 21-point outing from Kyrie Irving, Dallas defended its homecourt and picked up a 101-90 win to move ahead in the series, 2-1.
J.J. Redick was part of the ESPN crew on the call of the game, and before things tipped off, Doncic decided to bust his chops in the aftermath of a recent report by Shams Charania of The Athletic. Charania reported that Redick is on the list of candidates for the Charlotte Hornets’ head coaching vacancy, and is in line to receive an interview for the position. As such, before the game, Doncic and Mavs player development coach God Shammgod went up to Redick before the game tipped off and screamed “CHARLOTTE HORNETS!” at him.
Wholesome video of Luka Doncic, God Shamgod and JJ Redick 💙
(Need sleep after all these playoffs games, my bad y’all) #MFFL pic.twitter.com/Tln0pi1MKh
— Abby Jones (@_abigaiiiil) April 26, 2024
Redick and Doncic were actually teammates at the very end of the former’s playing career — while he wasn’t especially happy about the circumstances under which it happened, Redick was traded to the Mavs during the 2020-21 campaign and spent the final 13 games of his career with the team. It sure seems like he still has a good relationship with Doncic and Shammgod, although if he has to play them a few times a year as the head coach of the Hornets, maybe that’ll change.