Luka Doncic expressed his relief and gratitude after the Lakers decided not to use their special NBA Cup court in the game against the Dallas Mavericks. The Slovenian player celebrated that the organization and the league addressed the criticism regarding the yellow surface, which was unveiled this week and had been described as slippery and unsafe. The decision was made just days after the Los Angeles derby against the Clippers, where Doncic was one of the first to point out the problem. Despite scoring 43 points—including 32 in a dominant first half—the point guard asserted that the court did not meet the minimum standards for an official game. Therefore, on Friday, the Lakers opted to return to their traditional parquet floor at Crypto.com Arena. Complaints, explanations, and the impact on the NBA Cup. After the victory over Dallas, Doncic reiterated his stance. "I appreciate that the Lakers and the league did us in favor. I spoke about it, so I thank them for changing the court and allowing us to stay healthy," he stated. During the game against the Clippers, he had already pointed out that the yellow surface was risky and unstable. "It's just slippery. It's dangerous. I slipped. I slipped a lot, and you could see a lot of players slipping. And that's dangerous," he said Tuesday night. He also mentioned that he didn't recall similar conditions on the NBA Cup floors in Memphis and New Orleans. The problem wasn't unique to Doncic. Rui Hachimura described a similar experience right after the pre-game warm-up against the Clippers. "It was terrible. I felt it right away while I was warming up. It was a weird feeling. Like oily, slippery. Everyone was on the floor, falling," the forward commented. Later he added, now with a translation into Spanish: "That was wrong... I felt it right away... It just felt weird. Like oily, slippery... We'll be using the normal court tonight, so it'll be fine." The Los Angeles organization, for its part, explained that the situation was not due to an operational error on their part. According to the official supplier's assessment, the floor needed to be returned to the factory for adjustments. It was therefore deemed “unusable” in its current state. For this reason, Friday's game was played on the usual hardwood floor.Coach JJ Redick offered an additional possible cause. “Sometimes the courts just don't dry properly when there's condensation on them,” he said. The previous night, the Crypto.com Arena had hosted an NHL Kings game, and the conversion from ice to wood often leaves moisture trapped beneath the surface.