Anthony Davis spoke at length about his feelings toward the Los Angeles Lakers following their decision to trade him, and he hinted that there might be some hard feelings.
Davis admitted that he “didn’t know s—” when the trade went down that essentially sent him to the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic. He tried to get some clarity on the move from LeBron James, but he admitted he was skeptical on some of the explanations from the Lakers and even cast doubt on the narrative that few people knew about the trade before it happened.
“The front office has to do what it has to do, and obviously they’re going to do what’s best for the organization,” Davis told Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. “So I don’t know if I ever got the ‘real’ about any of it. I don’t know what’s true or what’s not, coming from upstairs. So, my thing is I’m gonna go to my counterpart who I’ve been running with and see what’s going on, get his reaction and that’s all it was. We had a conversation. That was it.
“Everybody’s saying nobody knew and all this other s—. I just don’t believe it. But, hey man, I’m past that. I’m ready to move forward with Dallas, try to get a championship there with these guys. First off, getting back on the floor and get ready to compete. All the emotions, that sh– lasted that night when it was just a shock.”
By most accounts, the trade was primarily negotiated between Mavericks GM Nico Harrison and Lakers GM Rob Pelinka. The limited group that knew about it helped prevent it from leaking before it was finished, which might have jeopardized the entire deal. Even Mavericks coach Jason Kidd barely seemed to know about it until it was essentially finished.
Still, it is hard to blame Davis for being so skeptical. He had no reason to believe he was even being considered as a trade chip. The Lakers may have simply jumped at the opportunity to acquire Doncic, but Davis was not exactly unjustified in feeling blindsided.
Davis was publicly cordial toward the Lakers after the deal. There might be some lingering frustration, but he is clearly ready and eager to move on. He just needs to get healthy first so he can win over Mavericks fans.
