Anthony Davis said he doesn’t believe that “nobody knew” in the Lakers’ organization about the blockbuster trade with Dallas for Luka Doncic before it rocked the NBA earlier this month.
During an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Davis recalled reaching out to LeBron James — his longest-tenured Lakers’ teammate — via FaceTime to get some insight into the trade because he wasn’t sold that everyone was in the dark about it.
“The front office has to do what it has to do and obviously they’re going to do what’s best for the organization. So I don’t know if I ever got the ‘real’ about any of it,” the Mavericks’ big man said. “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 [James] 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–t. 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’s — lasted that night when it was just a shock.”
Davis added that he understood it was “the nature of the business” and he is focused on getting healthy after suffering an adductor strain — as well as making sure his wife and kids get settled in Dallas.
Davis said he found out he was being traded via a phone call from Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka after he watched the Lakers defeat the Knicks in New York on Feb. 1 from his home in Los Angeles while recovering from an abdominal strain.
It came shortly after he texted his teammates to congratulate them on the win.
“They wanted who they wanted. They did what they had to do,” Davis said. “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.
The Lakers honored Davis — who helped bring a championship to the franchise alongside James in the 2020 NBA season — with a tribute video during LA’s 107-99 victory over the Mavericks on Tuesday.
The seismic trade, which also involved the Jazz, shook the NBA world to its core.
Along with Doncic, the Mavericks traded Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to Los Angeles for Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick in a three-team deal.
Utah received Jalen Hood-Schifino, a 2025 second-round pick via the Clippers and the Mavericks’ 2025 second-round pick.
Davis recorded 26 points and 16 rebounds before suffering the adductor injury in his Mavericks debut, a 116-105 win over the Rockets on Feb. 8.
“Obviously the unfortunate injury, but in that time that they saw me they realized how good we can be when we’re fully healthy,” Davis said. “We’re gonna get back to that. So, there’s a lot of emotions involved just from the Dallas standpoint of me wanting to show the team why Nico did what he did.”