Brad Townsend
@townbrad
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Dallas Morning News sports enterprise reporter who also covers the Mavericks and NBA. 2020 Bubble alum.
Joined February 2010
Literally the first person I saw in the parking lot was Slovenian national team strength coach Anze Macek, whom Luka Doncic hired last season as his personal strength coach, but was let go by the Mavericks before this season.
Something big happening here today, apparently. Waiting to enter the Lakers’ training facility.
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Luka Doncic takes the court and immediately spots a VIP and friend across the court .
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Luka to me on MIP voting: “Who votes in this?”. Me: “Well, 100 of us, including me.”. @luka7doncic: “Take me off the list and put @Devonte4Graham on there. I don’t deserve to be on there.”.
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Only @russwest44 would be able to truly confirm this, and I doubt he will, but I'm told that he left a $8,000 tip for the Grand Floridian housekeepers when the @HoustonRockets left the NBA bubble. Moreover, I'm told, he left the room virtually spotless.
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On TNT, Kenny Smith says that Chris Paul’s mother, Robin, reached out to explain what happened with the young Dallas fan. She said the fan was obviously inebriated and kept tapping her on the shoulder and wishing her happy Mother’s Day, even after she politely asked him to stop.
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. @luka7doncic meets 22-month-old Slovenian boy, Kris, for whom Luka helped raise more than $2.2 million so he could get medical treatment at UCLA for a rare muscle condition. I spoke to Luka’s mom and will have more on this story at @SportsDayDFW.
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League source confirms the unbelievable is true: The Mavericks are trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick.
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I'm told that the call to the NBA regarding the trade parameters and gaining league approval hasn't occurred yet. That's about 15 minutes away.
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My favorite Gregg Popovich story is personal. Hopefully he won't hold it against me for telling it. Days after the San Antonio newspaper I worked for folded in 1993, Golden State assistant Pop called to tell me the Spurs were being sold and he was coming back as GM. Me: "Pop, I.
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That VIP is Florentino Perez, president of Real Madrid, the Spanish club for which Doncic began his pro career.
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Markieff Morris says there’s an element of “disrespect” to Dallas trading Doncic; one that Morris says will fuel Doncic.
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Rondo came off the court ticked off. Looked like he yelled at Ty Lue, now he's yelling at Ibaka, who is yelling back.
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At the end of what might be his last pregame media availability, Gregg Popovich asked if any of the reporters had brought guns into the arena, then had so e things to say about lack of gun control regulation in Tennessee and, well, everywhere in the U.S.
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@luka7doncic asked that I make sure to publicize this: “The best team won today. Real Madrid, baby!”. Oh, and Mavs won, too.
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Doncic says he watched part of the Iowa-LSU women’s game last night. Asked whether Caitlin Clark reminds him of him, he smiled and said she’s more like Steph Curry. “She shoots it better than me, that’s for sure.
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I'm told that this was Nico Harrison's deal, that it took several weeks to play out after the Mavericks reached out to the Lakers, and that Harrison got full support from Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont.
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Doncic on the Paul George jersey swap thing: "I did send one after, in the locker room." So you guys can calm down. He didn't diss George.
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Doncic says he has a horned toad as a pet. Why? “Because I’m Texan.”.
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Rick Carlisle: “I’m happy for Fizdale to be out of that terrible mess that he had nothing to do with.”.
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It’s official: Mavs are prepping for the Spurs, specifically 7-4 rookie Victor Wembanyama, with God Shammgod playing the role of Wemby. “Wemby! Wemby” he hollered while going out to defend Irving with his artificial Wemby length.
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Until tonight, my most shocking moment of covering the Mavericks was Dec. 26, 1996, when acting GM Frank Zaccanelli pulled me aside in a Reunion Arena hallway and said he was about to trade 23-year-old Jason Kidd. Tonight was at least five times more shocking.
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Doncic: "I like it when people trash-talk to me. It gets me going. It's fun.".
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I've rarely if ever said an NBA game, especially a playoff game, was over with 7:29 left in the second quarter. This one, however, is. Clippers 54, Mavs 33.
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“Playing with Luka the past few days in the pick and roll has been like the best I’ve ever seen.”
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Kidd: “A lot of people had this as a blowout. They were right. But they didn’t have us as the winning team.”.
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Mavs bandwagon probably getting pretty, pretty heavy right now.
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Kyrie Irving seems bemused by Mavs’ traditional post-shootaround ritual.
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Doncic on goals going forward: “My only goal is to win the championship.”.
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Dirk was the last Maverick to leave the lockerroom. He signed autographs and posed for photos with the lockerroom attendants, “If this is it, I’m going to miss you guys.”
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Dereck Lively II says he leaned on the voice of his mom, Kathy, as he made those clutch free-throws. Read more about how Lively foiled OKC’s strategy:.
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Irving says he had to fight back tears when asked to give an impromptu speech in the locker room after the game. Irving played in 3 straight East finals with Cleveland (and NBA Finals) but this is his first conference finals berth as an active player since 2017. He was inactive
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Story has been told before, but never gets old. 2010-11 season, N.O. police captain Andre Menzies tells @mcuban, “You guys are going to win it all.”. Cuban: “OK.”. Menzies: “If you win it all, do I get a ring?”. 8 years later Menzies still proudly wearing his $140K title ring.
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DDD (Dirk, DSJ, Doncic) tale of the tape:. @swish41: 40 years, 3 days old. @luka7doncic/@Dennis1SmithJr: 39 years, 323 days old.
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Klay Thompson says Mavs small lineups feel like HS basketball sometimes, “but we’ve got heart. Heart over height, you know?”
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Don't mess with Doncic. Entire Mavericks team, heck, half the organization rushed to his defense.
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Asked a Mavs source: "How is this not tampering?". Response: "It is 100% a violation.".
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Major announcement: Tonight on TNT's Inside the NBA, before, during and after the Nuggets-Wolves broadcast, Shaq will have an extra-special substitute in-studio. He is none other than Dirk Nowitzki. And we all know he will be tremendous.
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Mavs have scheduled player exit interviews with media today and tonight Luka Doncic makes his Lakers playoff debut. And it’s a rainy morning in Dallas.
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"Thank you for my bonus, fellas," Kyrie Irving said to teammates as he settled on the bench to watch the final seconds of the Mavericks' win. "Kyrie, what bonus?" called Mark Cuban, knowing full well that Irving gets a $1 million bonus for Dallas reaching 50 wins.
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Kyrie Irving, who won gold as a member of the 2016 Team USA in Rio, on being left off the ‘24 team after being listed as a finalist.
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Reggie Bullock got a text from his grandfather, a former boxer, saying “You know what to do when your back is against the wall: Come out swinging.”.
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After their first playoff series together, Kyrie Irving speaks about his partnership with Luka Doncic. “Mi Hermano,” he called him.
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I’m told Luka Doncic spent much of today here in the Lakers’ training facility. His introductory news conference is tomorrow at 11 a.m. Dallas time.
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First it was “Chris Paul had a quad injury,” now it’s “there was a COVID outbreak.” Soon we’ll be reading that a plague of locusts descended on the Suns’ locker room before Game 7.
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Dinwiddie to Brunson as he entered the interview room: "So clean! You lookin' like you're about to get paid!".
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Kudos to Mavericks fans. It's not just the fact that AAC appears full, it's that I've seen or heard nothing negative directed toward Mavericks players. It's justifiable to be upset about the trade of Luka Doncic, but no reason whatsoever to take it out on Mavs players.
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Mavs owner @mcuban, Dwight Powell, Jalen Brunson, Maxi Kleber and Justin Jackson at today’s #GeorgeFloyd vigil outside Dallas Police headquarters.
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Davis: “I know who Luka was to this franchise and this city. I’m never going to downplay that. I’m not surprised by the fan reaction and city reaction. It’s my job to come in and play basketball and do what I’m supposed to do.”.
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No offense to Ja Morant, but this postseason so far are showing he's nowhere close to Playoff Luka level, no matter how All-NBA voting might turn out.
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Doncic said he would like to know when the franchise is making significant moves, though he doesn't want to be overly involved. He said GM Nico Harrison tried to call and tell him about the Porzingis trade, "But I was taking a nap.".
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Here’s my takeaway from Doncic’s comments: If no one is going to try to play defense in All-Star games, why should he play hard on offense?. Honestly have never thought of it that way and, you know, he has a point.
I asked Doncic if he’s content to defer to older All-Stars and why he tends to be unassertive offensively in these games.
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“This team is special. We’ve only been together five months. I’ve been having a lot of fun with this team.���
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Can’t wait. Mavs-Spurs Game 7 in the 2006 WCSF is one of the 5 episodes.
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Rick Carlisle wearing the suit he wore on June 12, 2011, the night Mavs won title. Had’t worn it since, never cleaned, champagne-soaked. Lucky penny he found on street that day still in pants pocket. “I always knew there would be an appropriate day to wear it again.”.
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Woj says on ESPN that there's "no belief" there will be a Leonard decision today, but either "sometime tomorrow, July 4 or maybe it could even go another day. Kawhi Leonard is taking time here. The decks have been cleared . The whole basketball world is waiting . ". Yep.
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I'm told Patrick Dumont was at a track meet of one of his kids and couldn't watch the lottery live. His phone rang and it was Mark Cuban, telling him the Mavs were in the top 4. Phone rang again and Dumont thought Cuban said Mavs got No. 1 pick, but Cuban was so busy screaming.
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Current Kemba Walker destination likelihood order, per league source:. 1. Boston.2. Charlotte.3. Dallas (definitely in the mix, with Lakers).Somewhere down the line: New York.
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Thought the Mavericks should have made a run at Christian Wood in the summer of '20, but getting 26-year-old Wood now for the No. 26 pick and 4 seldom-used players is a home run by Nico Harrison, filling Dallas' biggest offseason need.
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NBA announces that Luka Doncic is Western Conference Player of the Week.
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Doncic is still sick, didn’t do much in shootaround. He has been sick for nearly a week and admits that if this was a regular season game he probably wouldn’t play.
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"I think in the first half we were bullshitting around," Doncic said on TNT, before catching himself and apologizing. No apology necessary, Luka.
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Asked to share his favorite Boban story, Jalen Brunson says, “No joke, the other day, he dunked, then jumped.”.
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Irving on his postgame embrace with Doncic. He said Doncic told him, “I’m tired, man.”. Irving: “At the end of the day, you just want to give your brother a hug.”
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JaVale McGee: "In hindsight that's what movies are made of, not playing the whole season. Then coming down to you hitting those two free-throws for the win. Unfortunately I missed one of them and it went into OT. Yeah, that movie's going straight to DVD. It's not coming out.".
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Doncic said he fed off the heckling of fans, including “one grown-ass man” who was talking “about my family.”
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Doncic says he’s sorry to lose Finney-Smith and Dinwiddie, but the opportunity to play with Irving obviously excites him.
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Doncic: "Having Kyrie here has been a blessing. Obviously on the court everybody knows what kind of player he is. Off the court he helps me a lot, not just me but the whole team. He knows how to win the championship. He's a very humble guy. Great guy. "On the court and off the.
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LeBron on Doncic/Porzingis: “Great duo.”. Me: “What makes them great?”. LeBron: “Do you think they’re great?”. Me: “So far, but your opinion matters a lot more than mine.”. LeBron: “You’re The Dallas Morning News. Yours’ should matter more than mine.”. See? Subscribe @dallasnews.
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Many, many Mavericks and @DereckLively fans have asked, so here is some information provided by the Mavericks:. Dereck has asked that, in lieu of flowers or other gifts in memory of his mom, Kathy Drysdale, donations be made to Annie’s Place, a local nonprofit that supports.
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Derrick Jones on the challenge of guarding Clippers HOFers: . “I fear no man.”.
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Mark Cuban stiffens COVID-19 stance: ‘If you work for me, I require my employees to be vaccinated’
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As Luka Doncic sat down behind a microphone and waited for question from reporters, his eyes briefly bulged and he said loudly enough for the mic to pick it up: "Forty-two?". Yep, Utah shot 42 free-throws to Dallas' 23.
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Are the Mavs going to continue uptempo when Doncic returns?. “Yeah,” Josh Green said. “We’ve talked about it as a team and Luka’s totally onboard.”.
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Minneapolis airport security guy, loudly and (I think) semi-jokingly: “All Mavericks fans to the front of the line. We want you gone and we don’t want you back anytime soon.”.
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If you’ve ever wondered whether Doncic is as big as an NFL tight end, the answer is “bigger.”
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Suns fans, take a bow. It’s pretty clear now that you played a role in your team’s playoff demise. Virtually every Maverick player, coach and Mark Cuban has mentioned in the postseason aftermath how motivating those “Suns in Four” chants after Game 2 were.
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Finney-Smith: “When I had 5 three, Luka said, ‘“You’re about to get some more.’ When LD says you’re going to get more threes, I figure you’re going to get ‘em.”.
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It’s almost as if the Pistons said, “Sure, we’ll help you screw over Dallas.”.
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Good morning from Minneapolis (though hopefully departing soon, weather permitting).
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Source close to @kporzee tells me his priorities are: 1. Get longterm deal done with Dallas ASAP. 2. Spend a big chunk of the summer training with @luka7doncic. Clearly he’s all in on Dallas and Luka. Why wouldn’t he be?.
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Doncic was asked whether, given his pull with the franchise, he could do something about the AAC roof. "Ask Dirk. He has more memories here.".
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