Lakers News: Pau Gasol Reveals Anthony Davis Reached Out to Him Before Luka Doncic Trade

The former Lakers great was reached out to by Anthony Davis before the most shocking trade in NBA history happened.

Jan 25, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers former center Pau Gasol sits in the crowd during the second quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers shook up the NBA landscape when they traded Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic. It was the perhaps the most shocking trade in NBA history.

Doncic just led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season. Despite this, Dallas wanted to ship him out of town for Davis.

Davis wasn't particularly happy in LA, either. Before the trade, he publicly campaigned for the Lakers to add a center to start next to him because he doesn't like playing that spot.

Now, Davis played just one game in Dallas before getting hurt. Doncic has made the Lakers an NBA title contender.

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Pau Gasol is a former Laker great. He helped them win back-to-back championships along with Kobe Bryant. He revealed that Anthony Davis reached out to him prior to the game

In the latest episode of “The Knuckleheads” podcast, Pau Gasol revealed that Anthony Davis reached out to him prior to getting traded to Dallas for Luka Doncic. pic.twitter.com/BBiCH0zF10

— Nicole Ganglani (@nicoleganglani) March 18, 2025

"I was just talking to AD when they came to play here, with the Warriors and we were going to, you know, get together. He wanted to help the Lakers win another championship and prolong and extend. He obviously wasn't thinking, he wasn't going anywhere."

It's clear that Davis was not expecting to be moved outside of LA. He was hoping to stay with the Lakers for a while.

Now, Doncic was too big of a prize to turn down when it came to getting rid of Davis. The Lakers are happy with the transaction because it gives them someone who can be the face of the franchise for the next decade once LeBron James retires.

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It's hard to say anything except that the Lakers won this trade. They only had to get rid of just one first-round pick, and Doncic is still playing right now, unlike Davis.

Of course, half of a year will not tell the entire season whether or not this trade is a definite win for the Lakers over the Mavericks. There still needs to be more time before a definitive conclusion on who won the trade is delivered.

So far with the Lakers, Doncic is averaging 26.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 8.1 assists per game.

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