It can be a delicate dance, when it comes to NBA teams employing international players, because most of those players feel a strong loyalty to their national teams and an obligation to don their jerseys whenever asked.

Ice Cube thought the Los Angeles Lakers' acquiring Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks was business as usual.

Concerns over his conditioning and eating habits reportedly caused Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison to be hesitant to give Doncic a lucrative supermax extension and subsequently trade him to the Lakers in one of the most stunning blockbusters in recent memory.