As the Washington Wizards wrap up the final games of another losing season, Anthony Davis is currently in injury recovery mode for his newest team.
The All-Star big man joined Washington via trade from his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, who also sent D’Angelo Russell, Dante Exum, and Jaden Hardy to the Wizards. In exchange, Dallas received Khris Middleton, Marvin Bagley III, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham, and several draft picks.
That was the most recent trade in Davis’s career, but he recently opened up about the previous blockbuster trade where the Los Angeles Lakers sent him to the Mavs as part of the exchange for superstar Luka Doncic. According to Davis, he was unaware of the trade, and it really caught him off guard.
While on a recent episode of “The Draymond Green Show,” Green asked him to share his side of the story about that massive trade that rocked headlines last February. Davis felt that at the time it all happened, things were going well for him with the Lakers.
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According to the 10-time All-Star and 2020 NBA champion with the Lakers, he was at home on the day the trade was reported and started seeing all sorts of missed calls and text messages. When he finally got in touch with his agent, Rich Paul, he informed him he’d been traded to Dallas, but Davis didn’t immediately believe it.
Davis told Green he joked with Paul and asked him jokingly, “Who are they gonna trade me for, Luka?”
“Mind you, [Dallas] just went to the Finals, and it was never no discussion about, ‘Man, we might get AD out of here.’ It was nothing,” Davis said of his shocked reaction when Paul informed him he was traded to Dallas for Luka.
Davis said he called Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Collins, who told him, “I told you I was gonna come get you one day,” which further confused Davis, so he said he’d call back.
He explained he finally called up Lakers GM Rob Pelinka, who confirmed the trade to him. Davis said he didn’t understand some of the things Pelinka was telling him about why they made the deal, but summed it up as “When LeBron’s done, we want someone to take over.”
Davis explained that he actually thought people were playing a joke or prank on him, and that Pelinka and others were in on it. However, he said he started walking upstairs at his home and saw a call from Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid and then another NBA player.
“I’m like, ‘Wait, hold on. So I go back to Shams [Charania]’s page, and there it is, ‘Breaking news: Dallas Mavericks trade Luka Doncic.’ I’m like, ‘What?'” he said.
Davis said his heart was in his stomach after all that he went through to find out about the trade, and said he was in “shock” over it all. He then explained that he understood the trade “from the business side of it,” but felt he deserved “more respect” from the Lakers in being informed that he would be traded.
“I just couldn’t fathom. Nobody told me nothing. Nobody said a thing to me, like ‘Yeah, you’ve been traded to Dallas.’ That’s what I couldn’t get over, and I still can’t get over. I think I deserve much more respect than that for all the time I’ve been there, and all the time we won a championship…I can’t get a phone call: ‘This is what we’re thinking,'” he said.
“I think that’s the biggest thing that f***ed with me this entire time,” Davis told Green.
He also admitted he was feeling a lot of pressure once the trade happened, as he got to Dallas, where they were in search of more championships. Unfortunately, after joining the team, he dealt with more injuries and had surgery, only playing 29 games for the Mavs before getting traded again this season.
He’s since joined the Washington Wizards, who are looking to build a star-studded roster behind him and guard Trae Young, but has not appeared in any games due to ligament damage in his left hand preventing him from getting onto the court.
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