In an interview with the Los Angeles Times’ Broderick Turner, Anthony Davis reiterated that he had no idea he was going to be traded when the Los Angeles Lakers sent him to the Dallas Mavericks.
“When it happened, I honestly didn’t know shit,” Davis told the Times.
Davis said that the first thing he did was call LeBron James on FaceTime because “he’s been my running mate for six years.” He added, “Obviously, I know there are going to be a lot of political things in the front office when they talk to me.”
According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Ramona Shelburne, Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison insisted to Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka that their trade talks had to be kept quiet. This reportedly meant that members of the Lakers organization — and even the agents of the players involved — were in the dark until the deal was done.
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Davis, however, isn’t sure what to believe about how the blockbuster trade went down. He said this is why James was his first call.
“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 the 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 shit. 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 shit lasted that night when it was just a shock.”
When Dallas played against the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Davis was sidelined because of a groin injury. He got a tribute video, though, and a standing ovation from the crowd.
“If I was playing, it would have been a little bit more emotional for me,” Davis told the Times. “Obviously, it was emotional for the time I had here. But the video was fire! The love from the crowd was fire! The ovation was fire!”
Davis added that he “might have to watch it again” because he was focused on the game.
“I couldn’t really get a chance to like, really, dissect the video and feel what I wanted to feel,” he said. “But that’s the first time I had that, and I think that it was really dope for the Lakers to do, obviously, and I’m honored and appreciative, for them even considering to do that for me.”
In Davis’ five-plus seasons with the Lakers, he averaged 24.8 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.2 blocks in 34.4 minutes per game. He was instrumental in their 2020 championship run, and he was named an All-Star four times during his tenure, including this season. Davis didn’t exactly say that he understood Los Angeles’ decision to trade him for Luka Doncic, but he seems to have accepted it.
“They wanted who they wanted,” Davis said. “They did what they had to do. I don’t know if they had to, but it’s what they wanted to do. I moved on. I got a wife and kids to worry about, you know what I’m saying? And I’m figuring out how I’m going to get them to Dallas and get adjusted to that. It’s over with, and I’m moving on with my new team and what we got going on.”
