Anthony Davis calls out Lakers for treatment during Luka Doncic trade originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Anthony Davis isn’t happy with the way that the Los Angeles Lakers handled his trade to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Luka Doncic prior to the trade deadline last season.
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After all that he had accomplished with the Lakers, Davis was blindsided by the trade and feels like the Lakers didn’t treat him with the requisite respect throughout the process.
“I had no idea this was happening,” Davis said during a recent appearance on Draymond Green’s podcast, via The Athletic. “And I couldn’t make sense of it. … From a business standpoint, I can’t be mad. But why? It just caught me off guard.
“I still think I deserved much more respect than that,” Davis added. “All the time I’ve been here. S—, I was there six years. We won a championship. All this stuff, and I can’t get a phone call or a text of, ‘This is what we’re thinking.’”
The former No. 1 overall pick was an integral part of the Lakers’ lineup for six seasons, so it’s understandable that he might be hurt by the way he was handled by the organization. But, basketball is a business at the end of the day, and sometimes feelings or personal relationships take a backseat in business.
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Davis’ stay in Dallas didn’t last long, as he was traded from the Mavericks to the Washington Wizards earlier this year, marking the third time in his career that he’s been traded. He was also traded from the New Orleans Pelicans to the Lakers in June of 2019, though that trade was the result of Davis’ own request.
At this point, Davis has a lot of experience when it comes to being traded, but that doesn’t necessarily make it any easier. Clearly, the way the Lakers moved on from him still doesn’t sit right with Davis.
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