Luka Doncic trade: Nate Oats uses stunning NBA move as motivation for Alabama locker room

Luka Doncic being traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers stunned the basketball world on Saturday night. Almost everybody is being asked their opinion on the move, with Alabama head coach Nate Oats being the latest on Monday.

He used the trade as motivation for own his team before getting Monday’s activities started. Alabama is about to enter the back half of its SEC schedule, all of which are currently Quad 1 games. Oats knows nobody is safe in today’s world and wants his entire squad to lock in for the stretch.

“I walked in, told the team if Luka can get traded, I can get traded, we can all get traded in here,” Oats said via Blake Byler of On3’s BOL. “So, let’s lock in and have a good day.”

Nobody saw this Doncic trade coming or even believed it when Shams Charania reported the news. Doncic is widely considered one of the NBA’s best players and would be viewed as untouchable for most out there.

Instead, Dallas sends him to Los Angeles to pair with LeBron James while Anthony Davis is the key piece returning to the Mavs.

Looking at it from an Alabama perspective, this does come not too long after Oats decided to bench his star player, Mark Sears, in the second half against LSU. Obviously not the same as trading away an NBA superstar but Oats showed he is not afraid to do what is best for the team. Oats felt as if better defense was needed and Sears was not performing at the expected level.

“We played the guys in the second half that we thought gave us the best chance to win the game, and we won the game,” Oats said on Jan. 25 after beating LSU. “Our defense was significantly better in the second half than in the first half, and we haven’t done that much this year.”

Alabama is fresh off a home win against Georgia but is in the beginning of a week off. Seven days will pass before taking the court again, heading to Fayetteville to play Arkansas on Saturday. Oats is hoping his team can mentally and physically reset before getting back into game action.

Oats did make his comments about the Doncic trade with a smile on his face while laughing. But it’s still an outside motivator for Alabama entering what is, on paper, a brutal stretch of games for the program.