From a pyrotechnic cake to VIP guests, Mavericks go all out for Luka Doncic's birthday bash at Miami nightclub - The Dallas Morning News

MIAMI – A pyrotechnic cake. VIP guests. Scantily-clad young ladies dancing and holding up “LIV Luka” and “LIV Happy Birthday” signs.

“Luka,” of course, is Luka Doncic, last name not required by the masses for recognition. The occasion Friday night and well into Saturday morning was Doncic’s 21st birthday bash at posh LIV Nightclub in South Beach.

Our invitation never materialized, despite Kristaps Porzingis saying “I’ll send you the address” and “you can be the DJ.” Apparently, though, Doncic and his Mavericks teammates and club full of beautiful people didn’t want 70s and 80s rock played off an iPhone music library.

So on Saturday morning, while Doncic and his guests no doubt were still asleep, we and everyone else who wasn’t on the invite list had to live vicariously through videos posted on the Instagram accounts of Doncic, teammates Tim Hardaway Jr., Delon Wright, Seth Curry and others.

There was Doncic, seated of course at the main table primarily consisting of Mavericks teammates – veteran guard J.J. Barea to Doncic’s left, assistant coach Darrell Armstrong to the right – as a giant birthday cake was wheeled out, adorned with equally giant sparklers and big Nos. “2” and “1” on top.

“Move your big ol’ head, D.A.,” Hardaway is heard saying to Armstrong, moments before everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to the beaming Doncic.

As owner Mark Cuban said much earlier in the night at American Airlines Arena, before the Mavericks’ eight-point loss to the Heat, “You only turn 21 once, unfortunately.”

So when you are Doncic and you have the world at your sneakers and you reach this milestone birthday in of all places Miami, you do it up BIG. You make it MEMORABLE.

Flying in for the big occasion, besides Cuban, were Doncic’s mother, Mirjam; Mavericks icon Dirk Nowitzki; Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson; Doncic’s agent Bill Duffy; and who-knows-how-many-other VIPs whose names will emerge in the coming hours.

The last time the Mavericks organization had a celebration bash at LIV, it was in the aftermath of their June 12, 2011 NBA title-clinching victory over the Heat. For everyone in the organization back then, that was an oh-so-sweet culmination of many years of toil and heartbreak.

Conversely, Friday night and Saturday morning’s celebration was just the comparative beginning of what the Mavericks hope will be a long and fruitful Doncic and Pozingis Era.

Wisely, the Mavericks weren’t scheduled to depart Miami until 1 p.m. Saturday for the third stop on this four-game road trip, Minneapolis, where slap-in-the-face temps in the twenties awaited.

Young Doncic, more than likely, will be sweating out more electrolytes than usual when the Mavericks play the Timberwolves on Sunday afternoon.

Happy birthday, kid – uh, young man.

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