{"id":645487,"date":"2026-05-02T19:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T19:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/645487\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T19:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T19:25:09","slug":"what-jeanie-buss-just-admitted-about-the-lakers-sneaky-luka-doncic-trade-has-mark-cuban-furious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/645487\/","title":{"rendered":"What Jeanie Buss just admitted about the Lakers’ sneaky Luka Doncic trade has Mark Cuban furious"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Jeanie Buss just admitted about the Lakers’ sneaky Luka Doncic trade has Mark Cuban furious<\/a> originally appeared on The Sporting News<\/a>. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over a year after the NBA\u2019s most shocking trade, we finally know the full story. The Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> literally ran a secret operation to land Luka Doncic<\/a>, specifically to keep Dallas Mavericks<\/a> minority owner Mark Cuban from stopping it. So, those who said the Purple and Gold got lucky were absolutely wrong.<\/p>\n

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Lakers owner Jeanie Buss recently sat down with Maria Sharapova on the Pretty Tough podcast and offered her clearest public account yet of the blockbuster deal.<\/p>\n

Jeanie Buss confirms the Lakers deliberately hid the Luka Doncic trade talks<\/p>\n

In Feb. 2025, the Lakers got Doncic in a three-team deal involving the Utah Jazz<\/a>. In return, the Mavericks received Anthony Davis<\/a>, Max Christie<\/a>, and a 2029 first-round pick.<\/p>\n

The Shovenian star reportedly didn’t know about the move until it was finished. Buss told Sharapova that secrecy was the only way the deal would work.<\/p>\n

“In order to trade somebody like Anthony Davis, it would have to be with my approval,” Buss said<\/a>. “And certainly getting a player of Luka’s caliber and him being at the beginning end of his career was just an extraordinary opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

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She added, \u201cBut it required a lot of strategy and a lot of small steps in order to pull it off. Rob Pelinka was able to do that all without it leaking to the media, because I think Mark Cuban might have jumped in front of a train to keep it from happening.”<\/p>\n

Within the Lakers, only a small group knew about the talks. Buss confirmed that LeBron James<\/a>, Doncic, and Davis were all unaware. On Feb. 1, the night before the announcement, the Lakers beat the New York Knicks<\/a> at Madison Square Garden 128-112. JJ Redick<\/a> knew the deal was close but did not tell the players during the game.<\/p>\n

Following the trade, former owner Mark Cuban expressed regret, bluntly noting that<\/a> if he had remained in charge, the trade would never have happened. He only found out about the deal via text when it was already finalized.<\/p>\n

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The Mavericks eventually fired GM Nico Harrison after a 3-8 start to the 2025-26 season, with the trade widely cited as a contributing factor.<\/p>\n

Since then, the deal has looked completely one-sided. Doncic led the league in scoring this season with 33.5 points per game but suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain on April 2 against the Thunder<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, the Lakers managed to beat the Rockets<\/a> in six games without him and will now face Oklahoma City<\/a> in the Western Conference Semifinals. Game 1 starts Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Shams Charania reports<\/a> that Doncic likely won’t play early in the series. His recovery is slow, and he hasn’t returned to full workouts yet. Sources suggest he might return for Games 3 or 4 when the series moves to Los Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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