From LA to Dallas to Washington, Anthony Davis still shocked after trade for Luka Doncic

Anthony Davis revealed everything during his nearly two-hour appearance on the Draymond Green Show. 

The former Lakers champion — now with the Wizards — pulled back the curtain on his 15-year NBA career and all the shocking twists and turns along the way.

Part reflection, part therapy session, the conversation started with Davis’ new hit prank show on TBS, “Foul Play with Anthony Davis.” Green asked the big man why he chose him to prank in the opening episode. 

Davis revealed the original idea was to prank Bronny James Jr. and that the plan made its way through through Rich Paul and LeBron James. Davis said it was LeBron’s idea to prank Green instead, believing that Green’s authentic reaction would be better for television.

It was. Davis knew it. LeBron definitely knew it.

The topic then turned to revisiting the 2020 championship run inside the Walt Disney World bubble, Davis’ voice shifted.

That title, he said, remains the hardest thing he’s ever done in basketball.

Isolation. Pressure. Silence. No fans to feed off. No escape from the grind.

And when it ended, there was no release.

No parade in Los Angeles. No confetti falling down Figueroa. No victory lap across late-night television circuits and L.A. sporting events. 

“I wish I had that,” Davis admitted, the words carrying more weight than the ring itself. The absence of those things that typically come with a title still fuels Davis to this day.

Davis also revisited his departure from the Pelicans.

He called it “a bad breakup.”

He said he was open to one day returning to New Orleans but that after the organization didn’t give him a tribute video when returned for his first game as an opponent with the Lakers, that belief changed in him. For a player who gave years to a franchise, that silence cut deeper than boos.

“That was my final straw,” he said, almost matter-of-fact.

Then came the story that still doesn’t feel real.

Davis described the night that shocked the NBA world. When he was traded after midnight eastern time for Luka Doncic.

He said he was half-asleep in bed alongside his wife watching a movie. Rob Pelinka called. He ignored it. By the time he walked downstairs to return Rich Paul’s call, the news had already reached his own kitchen. His chef told him he was being traded to the Mavericks.

At first, Davis thought he was going to join forces with Doncic, a player he always admired and believed would unlock parts of his game that nobody had ever seen before. 

“I always told people I wanted to play with him,” said Davis. “He was the next player that could be the closest to LeBron, was Luka, he had the height, he could pass, he could score, all that.”

But then he spoke to Paul, his agent, and was told he was being traded for Luka Doncic.

“I thought it was a joke,” Davis said. “I thought I was on my own show.”

The irony wasn’t lost on him.

“I was in shock. I was generally in shock. I couldn’t understand why this was happening,” said Davis who still harbors disappointment that he wasn’t notified of the trade sooner. ““I think I deserved more respect than that.”

The aftermath was surreal.

Davis shared that days later, his first night in a Dallas hotel room before his first game with the Mavericks, he received an anonymous note under his door with macarons on the side. A message that read like both a warning and a welcome.

“Dear AD, I hope you’re liking your time in Dallas. Here in Dallas we love Dirk [Nowitzki], BBQ, the Cowboys, and Luka [Doncic]. What we love more than all of that is championships. The boos you’re going to hear, are not for you”

His time in Dallas never had a chance to breathe.

Injuries robbed him and Kyrie Irving of anything resembling what former Mavericks’ GM Nico Harrison saw when he made the trade. They only played one half together. Harrison was fired, Davis was traded and the vision never materialized. 

His first reaction to landing in Washington?

“Damn, Washington?”

It was honest and real.

Now, Davis talks about his excitement to build something in the nation’s capital alongside Trae Young and a young core. 

Before the conversation ended, Davis rattled off his MVP ballot for this season — Victor Wembanyama at the top, followed by Nikola Jokić, Jaylen Brown, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Doncic. A list that raised eyebrows.

Just like everything else he said.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters