In what is already feeling like the most shocking trade in NBA history, the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to a deal that would swap superstars Luka Dončić and Anthony Davis.
The news broke late Saturday night with a tweet from ESPN scoopster extraordinaire Shams Charania.
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
Shams's status as an NBA insider is as rock solid as they come. He is in the air of the Schefters and of the man who came before him, Adrian Wojnarowski, when it comes to having the inside track on breaking news. When Shams tweets a deal, it’s as good as gospel.
But a deal of this magnitude, seeing one of the best players on the planet, a player most NBA fans expect to win multiple MVP awards by the time his career is up, getting traded away on the eve of a potential supermax contract with basically no forewarning, was so shocking that Shams needed to stress to his audience that it was not a joke.
Yes, this is real. Sources tell ESPN: Full trade:
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 2, 2025
- Lakers: Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, Markieff Morris
- Mavericks: Anthony Davis, Max Christie, 2029 LAL 1st
- Jazz: Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2025 Clippers 2nd, 2025 Mavericks 2nd https://t.co/bltojdTaQj
But even with Shams’s emphasis of “Yes, this is real,” there were many nonbelievers who assumed that Shams had simply gotten his account hacked by an NBA fan with a phenomenal imagination.
SHAMS. POST A VIDEO SAYING IT. I DONT BELIEVE YOU
— KENNY BEECHAM (@KOT4Q) February 2, 2025
Yeah I’m not buying this, gotta be hacked
— College Football Report (@CFBRep) February 2, 2025
It wasn’t just fans—several NBA pros assumed that the most likely thing was that Shams had lost control of his account.
Nah shams gotta be hacked 💀
— Alex Caruso (@ACFresh21) February 2, 2025
Shams got hacked?
— Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) February 2, 2025
Even Shams’s own network, ESPN, joked that they needed to double-check with their reporter to make sure he hadn’t gotten locked out of his account.
"We're gonna try and dial up Shams to make sure he didn't get hacked. This has been confirmed, though."
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 2, 2025
Phil Murphy after reporting the Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis blockbuster on SportsCenter. pic.twitter.com/Y1dPYjvKxe
As unbelievable as the news is, it’s true. Luka is heading to the Lakers. Anthony Davis is heading to Dallas. We have simply never seen a deal like this before.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Luka-AD Trade Was So Unbelievable the Entire NBA World Was Sure Shams Got Hacked.
