The NBA world is still reeling from Saturday night’s shocking trade between the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers. The trade, which the Mavericks officially announced on Sunday morning, sent Luka Dončić to the Lakers and Anthony Davis to the Mavericks, and broke a few brains in the process.
While Lakers star LeBron James did not respond directly to the trade, he did take time to debunk one report. James left a candid response to a report from CBS Sports’ Bill Reiter that James had grown frustrated with Davis in Los Angeles, implying that it could have lead to a trade.
“You a fkn lie,” James said, with a Pinocchio and a clown emoji to punctuate his sentiment.
In the video, Reiter said that James’ “high expectations” had led James to become increasingly frustrated with Davis a year ago, but did not say anything about their relationship today. James and Davis have been teammates since 2019, when Davis was sent to the Lakers in a blockbuster trade with the New Orleans Pelicans. (Reiter later said that he stood by his reporting.)
Saturday night’s trade took everyone off-guard — even Dončić, who was reportedly blindsided. James, who is known for his deep involvement in the organization, was reportedly out at dinner when the trade went down and did not know it was happening.
The trade led to plenty of chatter from NBA players across the league, with most of them expressing the same emotions: confusion and shock.
