According to two sources who witnessed the interaction, Joerger told Divac, in a passive-aggressive jest, that he had negotiated an in-season trade with the Mavericks that would finally bring Doncic their way.
Cue the record scratch. As if this topic wasn’t touchy enough already.
Just two months before, Joerger’s public comments about the Kings not drafting Doncic were
widely perceived as being critical of the front office.
“I think perhaps there was an idea that there was a ceiling on him,” he had said then. “I don’t see it, unfortunately for us.”
What’s more, Joerger’s insistence that Bagley come off the bench had caused frustration all season long and played a pivotal part in the coach’s
well-chronicled clash with former assistant general manager Brandon Williams. It wasn’t just the fans, it seemed, who were fixated on the decision not to draft Doncic.
So Divac, unamused by his coach’s barb, fired back.
“Do I get their coach, too?” he said in reference to the Mavericks’ Rick Carlisle.