Anthony Davis Finally Tells His Side of the Lakers Luka Doncic Trade Story

The Luka Doncic trade turned the NBA upside down in February 2025, and Anthony Davis was right in the middle of it. He was watching a movie when it happened, and he had no idea it was coming. He finally told the full story on The Draymond Green Show on YouTube.

Davis was in bed watching a movie with his wife when Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka called. He let it go. Pelinka then texted him, saying,

AD, when you get a chance to be back, me and coach got something to run by you.
Anthony Davis

Davis figured he would deal with it the next day.

Rich Paul tried calling, too. Davis missed it. Rich ended up calling Davis's wife and asking her to tell him to call back. That is when things started moving fast.

"So I'm like, what up, Rich? He's like, man, they just traded you to Dallas. And I'm like, man, shut up. I said, who the f*** they gonna trade me for, Luka? Like, I was just saying, like, who else can you trade me for on that team?"
Anthony Davis

He thought Rich was joking. Then Nico Harrison's name popped up on his phone.

Anthony Davis Reacts to the Lakers Trading Him for Luka Doncic

"Nico was calling me. And I'm like, Rich, I'm gonna call you back. Hello? Yeah, I told you I was gonna come get you one day. I wanted you. I know Rich and Nico cool, like, y'all playing a joke. Like, this is getting real."
Anthony Davis

He called Pelinka back next, who explained the whole picture.

"He's like, yeah, you know, he telling me all this stuff. And like, 'when Bron's done, you know, when somebody take over, we want to go younger, you know, rebuild, all this.' And I'm like, huh? And my chef is right there in front of me. And I'm like, I just got traded to the Mavs. He started laughing. Yeah, big dog."
Anthony Davis

His chef was laughing. Calls were still coming in. But Davis still needed to see it for himself.

"So I'm like, you know what? I go on X, go straight to Sham's page, nothing. Go up the stairs, Joel Embiid calls me. Somebody else called me, another player. And I'm like, wait, hold on. So I go back to Sham's page, and then there it is."
Anthony Davis

Davis played just 29 games for Dallas before being traded to the Washington Wizards in February 2026. Luka Doncic, the guy Davis jokingly guessed he was traded for, led the NBA in scoring this season at 33.5 points per game before suffering a Grade 2 left hamstring strain that has ruled him out for the rest of the regular season, with his playoff status uncertain heading into April 18.

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