Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki calls seeing Luka Doncic play for Lakers 'weird'

Nowitzki and Doncic overlapped for one season in Dallas and formed a strong relationship. He said they texted after the trade went down. 

"Fast-forward coming home, obviously Luka, we texted a bit. I felt a little disappointed and sad for him. He obviously didn't see this coming. He invited me to come out to his first game in (Los Angeles), and I felt like I had to support him," Nowitzki said. 

"I played with him in my last season. We got close. I tried to mentor him, I tried to help as much as I can in the last few years."

Mavericks fans hoped that Doncic would be like Nowitzki, the superstar who stayed in Dallas his whole career and won a title for them. 

"He's a good kid, so I felt like I had to go out there and support him in this new chapter. It was reported that he was pretty down and disappointed how it went down, so I wanted to be there for him. I wanted to be there for his family and show support," Nowitzki said. 

"You guys saw my face, it was weird. It was surreal to see him play for the Lakers. I'll never be a Lakers fan, but I must always be a Luka fan."

The Mavericks and Lakers are set to face off for the first time since the trade on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 10:00 p.m. ET.