On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Dallas Mavericks for one of the biggest games of the NBA regular season at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
The headline is Luka Doncic’s return to Dallas for the first time since he was unexpectedly traded to Los Angeles in February.
There is also a major subplot involving the other All-Star involved in the trade, Mavericks forward-center Anthony Davis. The 2020 NBA champion with the Lakers missed the first game between the teams after the trade, a 107-99 Lakers win in Los Angeles.
Ahead of his hardwood reunion across the floor from LeBron James & Co., Davis said he has “no emotions,” but that was not always the case.
Lakers star Austin Reaves revealed on Tuesday that Davis’ initial reaction to the trade in the Lakers group chat sparked plenty of emotion.
Reaves was profiled by ESPN’s Dave McMenamin in recognition of his standout season. The undrafted guard is averaging 20.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game, having no trouble fitting in alongside Doncic in the backcourt.
Like every player on the Lakers and Mavericks, the story of his season would be incomplete without including the transformational Doncic-Davis swap.
The group message started going crazy,” Reaves said. “AD, texting the [team] group message, was like, ‘They traded me.'”
The Lakers guard said he refused to believe Shams Charania’s initial report of the trade was real. His skepticism carried over to the group chat, even after seeing Davis’ rapid reaction.
And I was like, ‘OK, AD is (expletive) with us,'” Reaves recalled. “He’s a kid at heart, had his fun. He literally has a prank TV show. I thought it was one of those.
On Wednesday, there will understandably be a lot of focus on Doncic’s return to Dallas and Davis’ first game against the Lakers since the trade, but it will have major implications on the court as well with the 2025 NBA playoffs approaching.
The Lakers have looked like an NBA Finals contender, sporting a 20-11 record since acquiring Doncic. Entering Tuesday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles is 48-30 with four games remaining and could finish anywhere from No. 2 to No. 8 in the competitive Western Conference.
At 38-41, the Mavericks are holding on to 10th place in the West, one game behind the Sacramento Kings. A win against the Lakers would go a long way in holding off the Phoenix Suns for the final spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament, while also giving Dallas a chance to jump the Kings.
