Michael Finley went on a local radio show this week and finally addressed the viral video from the Mavericks' 2024 Western Conference championship celebration where he took a beer out of Luka Dončić's hand. The most surprising part of the story is that it took him this long to tell it.
According to Finley, he had actually told Dončić that he had earned the beer and only took it away to help another Mavericks' employee do their job. Finley shared the story on 105.3 The Fan's "K&C Masterpiece" on Thursday.
"I'm glad you asked that question because inquiring minds want to know," said Finley. "This is the God honest truth about the beer situation with our former player. So, after the game in Minnesota, we win the Western Conference championship. We're on the way to the Finals. I leave the court. I see No. 77 standing over there having a a beer and I say, ‘Congratulations, young fella. You definitely deserve that beer.’ And he's like, ‘Thanks, Fin. Thanks.’”
Finley then went to the locker room to celebrate before returning to the hallway to find an awkward scene.
During his visit with @OThankKevin and @inthemageors, #Mavs co-interim GM Michael Finley addressed the viral video of him taking a beer from Luka Doncic after Dallas won the Western Conference Finals:
— 105.3 The FAN (@1053thefan) March 5, 2026
"I'm glad you asked that question. This is the God's honest truth..." pic.twitter.com/qLyezb7qRz
"I come out of the locker room and our social media department is frozen," Finley continued. "I'm like, ‘What's going on, guys? What's wrong?’ They said, ‘We want to take a picture of Luka and his dad.’ I said, ‘Well, take the picture. What? You guys are great at it. Take the picture.’ They said, ‘But Luka's holding a beer. He's drinking a beer. I said, ‘Well, go take the beer from him.’ They said, ‘What? We can't do that.’ I said, ‘O.K. I'll do it.’ So when you watch the video, I go I take the beer. I I hug Luka again and that's why Luka looked like, ‘Man, what are you doing? We just talked about this and you said it was cool.’ I take the beer. He looks at me in a odd way. They take the picture. Two minutes later he comes back and I give him the beer. We continue to celebrate our win."
So the entire thing was taken out of context, and this really wasn't one of the many behind-the-scenes issues that led up to the Lakers trade.
"Listen," Finley explained. "Winning in this league is hard. Yes. Winning not only in the regular season, but in the playoffs is hard. I've been there. I've done that. And I don't take it for granted. And when a guy like Luka well, he had done for the team that season that series. He deserves a chance to celebrate."
Finley has spent most of his professional career with the Mavericks. He was sent to the Mavericks in 1996 as part of the Jason Kidd trade and then played nine years in Dallas. After retiring from playing, he returned to the organization as an executive. He is the vice president player personnel and took over his interim general manager after Nico Harrison was fired.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mavericks GM Finally Explains Viral Luka Dončić Beer Video.
