Former Mavs advanced statistician: “Doncic drank huge amounts of tea while training”
Bob Voulgaris, the gambler turned statesman who clashed with Doncic in Dallas, gave his opinion on the shocking transfer to the Lakers.
During Luka Dončić’s tenure with the Mavericks, the European star faced numerous challenges. First and foremost was the immense pressure that came with his own talent—an expectation that placed him on a pedestal the moment he stepped into the NBA.
Replacing everything that Dirk Nowitzki had given to the franchise was no small feat, though Dončić had the advantage of learning directly from him during his rookie year, both on and off the court. He progressed as an omnipresent leader, dazzling the league with his brilliance.
Over time, he encountered obstacles in the form of personal and professional clashes—an inevitable part of working in a collective environment for years. He had to navigate team dynamics with various backcourt partners, from Jalen Brunson to Kyrie Irving, though these adjustments were mostly frictionless. His relationship with Kristaps Porziņģis, however, deteriorated significantly. Despite their shared Eastern European roots, they never truly connected, and tensions grew over their respective roles under the coach’s system.
Luka Doncic is shooting 36/21/58% as a Laker. pic.twitter.com/O9pNabfhRM
— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 20, 2025
Meanwhile, Dončić’s interactions with Rick Carlisle, the coach who had guided Dallas to its only championship, also soured. Initially, Carlisle placed Dončić on a pedestal, but over time, their dynamic eroded, contributing to the coach’s unceremonious departure from the franchise. Yet, the most critical figure within the organization was not any of them.
A significant part of the Mavericks’ success since acquiring the franchise in the early 2000s can be attributed to Mark Cuban. A successful businessman known for his eccentric personality and viral presence, Cuban sought advice from a highly polarizing figure: Haralabos Voulgaris. A name that now resonates in different circles.
Voulgaris brought fresh perspectives to the Mavericks, leveraging advanced statistics at a time when analytics were becoming the sport’s new holy grail. In 2018, Cuban appointed him as the team’s director of development and quantitative research. Prior to this, Voulgaris had built a reputation for using data-driven models to profit from sports betting, a skill that also served him well in poker. Over time, he gained significant influence in Dallas’ day-to-day operations.
Using analytics, he attempted to shape Rick Carlisle’s game strategies—an approach that won over Cuban but alienated others. While the owner stood by him repeatedly, Voulgaris’ direct and often abrasive communication style strained relationships with both coaches and players. His departure after three years was accompanied by reports of ongoing conflicts, including with Dončić, who became one of his primary targets.
Voulgaris’ tenure was relatively short compared to the vast amounts of data typically handled by coaching staff, particularly assistants and scouts. In recent years, he has shifted his focus to soccer, becoming a co-owner of C.D. Castellón, a club competing in Spain’s second division.
For those unfamiliar with his background, a brief recap: he rose to prominence in the betting world through his deep connection with basketball. Inspired by his father, a Winnipeg businessman who faced financial ruin twice due to gambling, Voulgaris took a different approach.
Unlike his father, who relied on superstition, he developed a structured, numbers-based system that turned betting into a lucrative endeavor. Barred from accompanying his father to Las Vegas casinos as a minor, he instead honed his expertise in sports betting, becoming one of the most successful basketball bettors in history.
Voulgaris has not remained silent about Dončić’s departure from Dallas, which involved the Lakers and Jazz as key players in the trade. He took to social media to voice his criticism:
Writing on Twitter, where he regularly reposts right wing information, he said that the Doncic move “will go down as one of (Probably THE) worst trades in the history of sports".
Haralabos Voulgaris' full tweet:
This will go down as one of (Probably THE) worst trades in the history of Sports. You just traded away a top 3 player in the prime of his career and your return was a single first and a soon to be 32 year old Anthony Davis. The fact that you threw in a 2nd for good measure is just *chefs kiss*
The Nets got 4 unprotected firsts + a pick swap plus Johnson and Bridges who they later traded for FIVE FIRSTS and a pick swap for KD who was 34 at the time of that trade.
The Mavs had a top 3 defense last season after the deadline trades and then lost in the Finals to one of if not the greatest offensive teams in NBA History in the Celtics.
If you think defense wins championships and you want to be 3 Centers Deep on your roster - and play AD at the 4 while forcing PJ to guard 3s, Klay to guard 2s and Kyrie to guard 1s good luck with that.
The Mavs now have one player on their roster who can create a a shot for himself or for others in Kyrie and he's about to turn 33.
The only other thing I'll add to this is Dennis Lindsey was with the Mavs last year and is a great basketball mind. He left to work for the Pistons this season. Do with that what you will.
To fully understand the weight of this criticism, it’s important to note that Voulgaris subtly directed his remarks at Nico Harrison—the executive who dismissed him when he took over as president of basketball operations four years ago.
This will go down as one of (Probably THE) worst trades in the history of Sports. You just traded away a top 3 player in the prime of his career and your return was a single first and a soon to be 32 year old Anthony Davis. The fact that you threw in a 2nd for good measure is…
— Haralabos Voulgaris (@haralabob) February 2, 2025
Doncic ‘doesn’t take his diet seriously'
Voulgaris, known to some as “Gambler Bob,” also weighed in on Dončić’s work ethic during a guest appearance on the My First Million podcast, addressing long-standing concerns about the star’s fitness:
“He doesn’t take his conditioning seriously. He doesn’t take his diet seriously. All of that is true. And sure, it’s something that can be corrected, but here’s the thing—every single person at the Mavericks, except me, was terrified of this guy. A lot of people just wanted to kiss his ass to secure their jobs.”
He then shared an anecdote from his early interactions with Dončić:
“The first time I saw him at practice, it was his rookie year. He was wearing a weight-loss vest, a sauna vest. I was still negotiating my role with Mark Cuban at the time, deciding whether I’d work on-site or remotely. Mark pointed at the vest and said, ‘They put that on him because he was a little overweight.’ Then, they brought out food from a Tex-Mex restaurant. Two massive Gatorade buckets sat on the table—one filled with sweet tea, the other with lemonade. This kid drank an insane amount. I never keep quiet, so I said, ‘What the hell? I don’t know much about this, but I do know that liquid calories are the enemy.’ Dončić told me to stay out of it, that the team had experts handling it. Two days later, those drinks were gone. Then, a teammate teased him, saying I was the one who had them removed.”
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