A CELEBRATORY MOOD carried Austin Reaves down the ramp at Madison Square Garden and into the New York City night after a monumental road win. It was just after midnight on Feb. 2.
The Los Angeles Lakers — fueled by 60 combined points from Reaves (27) and LeBron James (33) — had just knocked off a New York Knicks team that was riding a five-game win streak. L.A. had done so without its best player, Anthony Davis, who had left the trip early to receive treatment for an abdominal strain.
"Me and Bron were talking in the locker room after the game," Reaves told ESPN. "It was like, if we play like that and add AD to that, we could be dangerous."
As the Lakers' bus navigated through midtown Manhattan traffic, Reaves pulled out his phone to scroll Instagram. He came across a post citing ESPN Shams Charania's report that the Lakers had just traded Davis and Max Christie — fresh off 15 points against New York — to the Dallas Mavericks in a deal for Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic.
"First thing, I was like, 'Oh this is [false]," Reaves said. "'He got hacked.'"
Instantly, Reaves' phone began to flood with incoming texts. "The group message started going crazy," he said. "AD, texting the [team] group message, was like, 'They traded me.' And I was like, 'OK, AD is bulls—-ing with us.' He's a kid at heart, had his fun. He literally has a prank TV show. I thought it was one of those."
Then he received a message from Lakers assistant coach Beau Levesque.
"Bro …," Levesque messaged.
Reaves called Levesque immediately.
"This ain't real," Reaves said, a statement posing as a question.
"Umm … I think it's real," Levesque said, sitting on the Lakers' last bus to leave MSG, about 15 minutes behind Reaves. "I'm sitting right by Max."
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TLDR version if anyone’s interested:
“First thing, I was like, ‘Oh this is [false],” Reaves said. “’He got hacked.’”
Instantly, Reaves’ phone began to flood with incoming texts. “The group message started going crazy,” he said. “AD, texting the [team] group message, was like, ‘They traded me.’ And I was like, ‘OK, AD is bulls-—ing with us.’ He’s a kid at heart, had his fun. He literally has a prank TV show. I thought it was one of those.”
So Reaves confirms that Bron didn’t know either
Can’t believe soundbites about this trade are still coming out 😂
“AD, texting the (team) group message, was like: They traded me.”
The Voyager Golden Records are two identical phonograph records, one of each which were included aboard the two Voyager spacecraft launched in 2025.[1] The records contain sounds and data to reconstruct raster scan images selected to preserve the infamous legacy of the Luka trade, and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form who may find them.
>This is a record of posterity from a small, distant world, a token of our feelings, our writings, our images, our memes, our rage and disbelief over the Luka trade. We are attempting to make this historical record survive our time so it may live into yours.
>— President Jimmy Carter
This trade is going to be talked about forever lol
> “Me and Bron were talking in the locker room after the game,” Reaves told ESPN. “It was like, if we play like that and add AD to that, we could be dangerous.”
I remember watching that game. I was thinking what if they traded AD, who can they get, because they looked good that game without him. They were playing small ball. Hours later, I discover the news and was like “Damn they really did trade him.”
So what happens if a team trades the resident meme sender in the group chat. That must ruin the vibes
NOW THEY GOT LUKA DON, A. REAVES AND THEN LEBRON~
AD: “they traded me.”
LeBron: “That’s crazy but I’m not reading all that. Congrats!…or I’m sorry it happened “
>“First thing, I was like, ‘Oh this is [false],” Reaves said. “’He got hacked.’”
ESPN doesn’t think its audience knows what “cap” means.
Probably true for the people actually reading articles.
He could not believe Lakers magic happening right before his eyes man
It’s like a murder mystery where every chapter is a different character’s perspective on what transpired that night. I really can’t believe we’re still getting new material out of this trade though.
Damn him sitting by max. Mavs if you don’t want him I’ll give you that first for him back
best part of this piece are the quotes about the headbands
> The Lakers were 10th in the West — and falling.
> “I just remember when everybody got back, everybody was kind of just in a fog,” Reaves said. “So I randomly was like, ‘F— it, I’m going to put a headband on and see if I can make somebody smile.'”
> “They all just looked at me like I was crazy and just started laughing,” Reaves said. “I was like, ‘Well, I accomplished my goal.'”
> He has kept it on since — and L.A. has gone 34-19.
—
> Two days before the team took the court in Memphis, L.A. lost a shocker in Chicago when Giddey hit a half-court heave at the buzzer.
> In the visitors locker room at FedEx Forum, Reaves noticed James had a new look: He had a headband on too.
> “He looked at me and said, ‘Oh, you wearing a headband?'” James said. “I said, ‘Yeah, you know, s—, I’ve been a little bit out of rhythm. I need to change the energy in this b—-.’
> “And I said, ‘It worked for you.'”
Everybody thought Shams got hacked lol
Lmao the end of the post sounds like the end of a chapter of a suspense novel
We get it guys, LeBron had no idea about this trade
they gave us fat man for glass man
Still feels like a prank.
“I’m sitting right by Max.” 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
On a side note damn…. no one actually knew.
I hope someone had a camera on Bron or Luka when that happened and we get to see the footage when they make a documentary about the threepeat with Bronny and Bryce
I understand the gravity of this trade… but does it need to be discussed every single day on multiple threads?