Even though Anthony Davis has been out with a groin strain since his debut with the Dallas Mavericks, Tuesday night's game between the Lakers and the Mavs brought back the emotions he felt after the blockbuster trade. Seemingly coming out of nowhere, the Lakers traded Davis to Dallas for Luka Doncic before the deadline. The former Lakers star doesn't seem to have gotten over the trade.
Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times spoke with AD after the game in which the Lakers had a video tribute for their former franchise cornerstone. While appreciating the video and the fans' support, Davis expressed his frustration and unhappiness with the Lakers front office.
"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. I don’t know what’s true or what’s not, coming from upstairs. Everybody’s saying nobody knew and all this other s—. I just don’t believe it."Anthony Davis
Davis said that he had no idea about it when the trade happened and wanted to call LeBron James immediately when he found out. He acknowledged that the front office had to do what they had to do, but he wasn't particularly happy with how they went about it.
GM Rob Pelinka and his Mavs counterpart, Nico Harrison, were famously tight-lipped throughout the trade negotiations. There was never any reporting about a potential deal between the sides, resulting in a shocking reaction across the board, including from Davis and Doncic.
Davis, however, doesn't seem to believe that no one knew about the trade. He said that he doesn't believe what the organization has told him and that he never got the "real" about it.
This is the brutal business nature of the NBA. Players and their families get uprooted from their cities and teams without any notice. Davis has every right to be upset with the front office that seemingly gave him no indication that getting traded mid-season could be a possibility.