1. At 12:12 a.m. ET on Sunday morning (or what normal people call Saturday night), Shams Charania stopped not just the NBA world, but the entire sports world, in its tracks by breaking the news that the Dallas Mavericks were trading Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis.
BREAKING: The Dallas Mavericks are trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Three-team deal that includes Utah.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 2, 2025
Those of us in sports media love to throw around a lot of hyperbolic words when a trade happens: “Blockbuster trade.” “Mega trade.” “Monster trade.”
This deal was another level.
So, while everyone was focused on figuring out what the hell the Mavericks were thinking, all I could think about it was what it was like for Charania to hit send on that tweet. So I asked him.
In a brief conversation on Sunday, Charania shared some details on what his Saturday night was like.
SI: Can you describe the feeling when you hit send on that tweet?
Charania: Adrenaline rush in the craziest way. Me myself, in a lot of ways, I’m a fan. I’m a fan of the game. I’m a fan of the NBA first. I was probably just as floored as all the audience was and everyone around the league was when I got wind of it about five minutes before I hit send.
I got wind that it was done and then you go into your mode of “Is this real? Is this really happening?” You try to confirm with a few more people and even then, I was still in a state of shock, but the job is to report the news and you do it accurately. Once I got three, four, five confirmations, I obviously ran with it. But the time from when I heard it to when I tweeted it, it was five minutes and that five minutes was used to triple, quadruple, quintuple verify it.
SI: Is that five-minute window all adrenaline or are there any nerves involved?
Charania: There’s every emotion you can think of. There’s anxiety, there’s nervousness, there’s being scared, there’s being floored, stunned.
I had gotten wind a few days prior that these two teams might be talking, but you never think it’s around Luka Dončić and Anthony Davis.
In today’s world and society and sports, everything is rumored, everything ideated by everyone. So, for this to happen, really bang-bang the way it did, obviously Rob Pelinka and Nico Harrison did an amazing job keeping this tight lipped.
SI: Did you check your Twitter mentions after you sent that tweet or were you busy doing other stuff?
Charania: After I hit send, I don’t know what was going on with my phone. I had an overload of calls, I was getting an overload of text messages. I try to read all my messages. I try to have zero unread messages. I think at one point, it was close to 300 unread and a bunch of calls. I couldn’t get back to everyone. Obviously, I never had that happen before. Everyone was trying to figure out if this was real. Did you get hacked?
I got back to a few people that I was able to answer. Breaking the trade is one thing, but the follow up is the details: The what. The why. The how. That’s what my attention turned to. It’s not about verifying if my Twitter got hacked. Once you break it, then you get the terms, and you go from there.
SI: I’m sure you heard from executives, but did players text you asking if the trade was real or asking for details?
Charania: I heard from every audience base on the NBA level.
SI: What time did you finally get to sleep that night?
Charania: 5:45 a.m. CT and then got up a 6:15 because I had a 7 a.m. SportsCenter hit and 8 a.m. SportsCenter and 10 a.m. SportsCenter.
2. One of the more amusing pieces of content to come out of the Luka trade?
This video of Mavericks fans bringing a casket to the team’s arena while “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth blares in the background.
Three dudes brought a coffin to American Airlines Center. They’re playing “See You Again.”
— Shawn McFarland (@McFarland_Shawn) February 2, 2025
“Rest in peace to the Mavs.” pic.twitter.com/0Ndv26vGyb
3. The Mavericks had a game on Sunday after the big trade and the intro by the team’s play-by-play voice Mark Followill is worth a watch.
Longtime Mavericks play-by-play announcer @MFollowill did not mince words as he signed on for today's broadcast. pic.twitter.com/ai1bUX0Xl7
— J.E. Skeets (@jeskeets) February 2, 2025
4. You’d think Patrick Mahomes would be 100% locked into the Super Bowl, but he was rattled by the Luka trade. As someone who is going to bet the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, I need Mahomes to get focused!
Wait what?
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) February 2, 2025
I’m sick rn…. https://t.co/IGiojb3OXT
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) February 2, 2025
Yall gotta chill…. https://t.co/iCLMIwO4gf
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) February 2, 2025
5. Stay until the end to hear the one-liner that Pat McAfee dropped when the Royal Rumble panel remembered his 38-second performance in last year’s event.
WE WERE ALL SURPRISED
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) February 1, 2025
You know what I’m talking about @MichaelCole
😂😂😂
🗣️🗣️YEET #RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/kZ9eSwjb5N
6. This week’sSI Media With Jimmy Traina features an interview with ESPN’s Troy Aikman. Plus, WWE superstar Seth Rollins joins me for the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment.
Aikman discusses his strong comments from the Texans-Chiefs divisional round playoff game about the referees and the NFL rules regarding roughing the passer. Aikman explains how he realized his commentary drew a lot of attention and reveals whether he heard from the NFL after his comments. Aikman also shares his thoughts on what the NFL should do about roughing the passer penalties and addressed a famous tweet he had in 2019 about Patrick Mahomes.
In addition, Aikman talks about the advice he’d give Tom Brady about calling his first Super Bowl, how nervous he was playing in his first Super Bowl and calling his first Super Bowl, the Cowboys’ hiring of Brian Schottenheimer and his relationship with Jerry Jones.
Following Aikman, Rollins fills in for Sal Licata on this week’s “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s topics include the Royal Rumble, NFL announcers, going to New Orleans for Radio Row, being a Bears fan and much more.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: One this date in 1989, the WWF gave us one of the most memorable breakups ever when Randy “Macho Man” Savage turned on Hulk Hogan.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Shams Charania on Breaking Luka Doncic–Anthony Davis Trade: ‘Adrenaline Rush in the Craziest Way’.
