Dallas Mavericks fans were outraged when Luka Doncic was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, and it seems a member of the coaching staff shared similar feelings about the move.
Mavericks assistant coach Marko Milic, from Slovenia, has chosen to leave the team, according to Marc Stein’s report on Sunday. Milic did not want to stay with the Mavericks now that Doncic, who is also Slovenian, is no longer on the roster.
Milic made history as the first Slovenian to play in the NBA when he joined the Phoenix Suns for the 1997-98 season. He was teammates with Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd during that time and again in 1999. Kidd brought Milic on as an assistant in 2022, where there was a clear bond between Milic and Doncic, a four-time Slovenian League champion and four-time Slovenian Cup winner.
Before joining the Mavericks, Milic had managed Slovenia’s national team and coached Doncic there.
The Mavericks shocked the sports world when they traded Doncic to the Lakers last weekend, an event that deeply angered fans in Dallas. Some Mavs supporters even took extreme measures to express their dissatisfaction with the trade.
