Anthony Davis discussed his initial reaction to being traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Dallas Mavericks in an episode of The Draymond Green Show, according to comments released on Apr. 8.
The trade, which involved Davis and Luka Doncic swapping teams, has been described as one of the most surprising moves in NBA history. The deal caught many off guard, including Davis himself.
Davis said he learned about the trade while at home. “First of all, I had no idea that I was even traded. Go upstairs like ‘You know what I’m gonna go upstairs, watch a movie.’ Get in the bed, turn the movie on, wife next to me and you know I’m trying to find a movie and I see Rob Pelinka calls me. I’m like man you know what, I’ll hit him back tomorrow. Then he texts me ‘AD when you get a chance hit me back, me and Coach got something to run by you.’ Rich [Paul] said he tried to call me, I never got Rich’s call. So Rich then called my wife and was like ‘Tell AD to call me.’ So I’m like ‘What up, Rich?’ He’s like ‘Man they just traded you to Dallas’ and I’m like ‘Man, shut up.’ I said ‘Who the f— they gonna trade me for, Luka?’ Like I was just saying who else can you trade me for on that team. Nico was calling me, I’m like ‘Rich I’m gonna call you back.’
“’Hello?’ ‘Yeah I told you I was gonna come get you one day, I wanted you.’ I know Rich and Nico cool like y’all playin a joke. This ain’t real. Foul Play [laughs] Gotchu! So I call Rob Pelinka back and he’s like telling me all this stuff and like, ‘You know when Bron’s done we want somebody to take over. We wanna go younger you know, rebuild.’ And I’m like huh? And my chef is right there in front of me and I’m like ‘I just got traded to the Mavs’ and he started laughing.” Davis continued by explaining how he checked social media for confirmation: “So I’m like you know what? If this is true…I go on X (formerly Twitter), go straight to Shams’ [Charania] page. Nothing…So then…I go back…and then there it is.”
Since then Davis has moved forward with his career; after his time with Dallas he has now joined the Washington Wizards where he hopes “to make a big impact” as reported in his comments.
Meanwhile Luka Doncic continues playing for Los Angeles but is currently injured ahead of potential playoff games. Lakers head coach JJ Redick said Doncic remains positive despite his injury: “Luka Doncic is in good spirits and is doing everything in his power to return.”
