At just past midnight — right after the 2025 Royal Rumble wrapped up — an absolutely wild NBA trade dropped on social media. One so unlikely no one could believe it was real until confirmation followed.
The Dallas Mavericks traded homegrown star player Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis. More pieces were involved, along with the Utah Jazz. All in all, the trade looked like this:
Lakers get: Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, Markieff Morris
Mavericks get: Anthony Davis, Max Christie, 2029 Lakers first round draft pick
Jazz get: Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2025 Clippers second round pick, 2025 Mavericks second round pick
That’s a huge deal! And it’s a very strange one! Dallas was in the NBA Finals last spring with Doncic leading the way. Davis was the key to bringing LeBron James back to the promised land of the O’Brien Trophy. And now they’ve been swapped for each other, along with various moving parts.
It’s a lot to process as Saturday night became Sunday morning on the east coast. As such, everyone assumed the same; that ESPN insider Shams Charania had been hacked.
This wasn’t limited to fans. Players and pundits across the sporting world clocked in. A sampling:
You’ve all been hacked. That’s what I’m telling myself and going to bed. https://t.co/pTRBahyOtz
— Chris Hine (@ChristopherHine) February 2, 2025
Gotta be hacked? It doesn’t make any sense from a basketball standpoint.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) February 2, 2025
Shams got hacked?
— Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) February 2, 2025
Nah shams gotta be hacked 💀
— Alex Caruso (@ACFresh21) February 2, 2025
Shams has not been hacked
This is real https://t.co/fnUgihd90A
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) February 2, 2025
I didn’t believe this was real https://t.co/yH9fBxm7Pl
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) February 2, 2025
I mean, if the ESPN account wasnt reporting it too, I’d swear it was a hack.
— Jesse Ducker (@jesseducker.bsky.social) February 1, 2025 at 11:32 PM
What is happening? Did they let the Musk flunkies hack into the NBA trade machine, too?
— Craig Aaron (@notaaroncraig.bsky.social) February 1, 2025 at 11:31 PM
So weird. Still wondering if it’s a hack
— ripcityballs.bsky.social (@ripcityballs.bsky.social) February 1, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Long story short, the timing and scope of the trade was huge enough that no one quite believed it was real. And then ESPN confirmed it. But hey, at least Jey Uso got a few minutes to enjoy his Royal Rumble win before the NBA stole his thunder.
