I’ll admit, getting into basketball (or sports in general) can be kind of intimidating. Fans can be hostile and less-than-welcoming to newcomers. Luckily for you, a former hooper who grew up fully engulfed in the sport has graciously agreed to be your tour guide into the wide world of the National Basketball Association (you’re welcomeeeee). So, welcome to NBA 101!
THE VOCAB
Here’s a list of the need-to-know NBA jargon for the story I’m about to tell you:
- Offense: when a team has possession of the ball and is trying to score
- Strong offensive players include LeBron James, Steph Curry and Luka Dončić
- Defense: when a team doesn’t have possession of the ball and is trying to prevent the other team from scoring
- Strong defensive players include Jrue Holiday, Anthony Davis and Jaren Jackson Jr.
- NBA Finals: the last 4-7 games of the NBA season, where the winners of the Eastern Conference Finals and the Western Conference Finals compete to crown the best team of that season
- Trade deadline: the last day teams have to exchange players in the middle of the season
- After the trade deadline, teams and players have to wait until the off-season for exchanges to be made
- Shams: basically the “Wizard of Oz” of the NBA; he knows everything about everything before anyone else
- Sometimes, he finds out about trades before the players even know they’ve been traded
- General Manager: similar to a general manager at, like Sephora; responsible for hiring-n-firing, day-to-day operations, the occasional press conference – you know, just managerial things
- Franchise Player: a slang term meaning the player is the face of their team, like Beyonce to Destiny’s Child
- Examples include:
- Nikola Jokić – Denver Nuggets
- Giannis Antetekumpo – Milwaukee Bucks
- Ja Morant – Memphis Grizzlies
- Anthony Edwards – Minnesota Timberwolves
- Jayson Tatum – Boston Celtics
- Examples include:
THE STORY: LUKA TO THE LAKERS
The trade window in the NBA is always interesting. From mid-December to early February, teams and players have the opportunity to shuffle things around in preparation for the post-season or even years to come. Typically, these exchanges are between willing participants: superstars who want OUT of their current team, like Jimmy Butler, or teams who are switching people in and out of role-player positions. Much, much, muuuuch less common, however, is a key player getting traded from a team that they love playing for because, well, why the fuck would you do that? Insert the Dallas Mavericks and their balding general manager, Nico Harrison.
Circa, like a month or so ago, Luka DonÄŤić, aka Luka Magic, was the face of the Dallas Mavericks. Everyone loooooved (and tbh, still loves) Luka! He’s a great player, a powerhouse offensively who literally led his team to the NBA Finals last season, what’s not to like? Well, apparently something because out of nowhere, Shams announced Luka was being traded to the Lakers for Anthony Davis. For context, in my opinion, this would be like 5SOS (debut album era) trading Luke Hemmings for Harry Styles of One Direction. Nothing wrong with Harry, in fact, he might’ve been a great fit for 5SOS, but like, whyyyy would that ever happen?Â
The biggest gag is, no one knew Luka was leaving and…he didn’t want to leave in the first place! Players, coaches, literally everyone and their mom, including the literal head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, were shocked to hear the news. Franchise players are unspoken untouchables; you just don’t trade (or request) a Luka, or a Giannis, or a Ja Morant, unless they request a trade – You just don’t! There have been mumblings of somewhat bullshit reasons for the trade: that the Mavs were concerned about Luka’s “conditioning” (basically calling him out of shape) and lack of defensive capabilities. But, I’m not buying that, like at all. Like most fans, I’m 99.9% sure Luka got traded because he was up for a $345 million supermax contract and Dallas didn’t wanna pay (Cheapy the Cheapskate tbh, if you know, you know).
Anyway, Dallas fans are NOT happy. From staging a funeral outside of the Mavs arena to chanting “Fire Nico” during Anthony Davis’ first game as a Maverick, it’s crystal clear that this trade wasn’t a consensus decision.
Poor Anthony Davis is on the other side of the Luka trade. Don’t get me wrong with all the praise for Luka, AD is a solid player. He was basically the Lakers’ entire defense this past season and won a championship there in 2020. However, a lot of fans weren’t happy about the trade because 1) All I just said about Luka, and 2) AD is kind of injury-prone. Unfortunately, he’s already living up to the rumors, as in his very first game as a Maverick – he suffered a non-contact injury and is out for a few weeks.
Anyways, Luka’s gonna be a great addition to the Lakers roster; LeBron James is one of his biggest influences, and they’re gonna get the chance to play together, so that’s fun! Likewise, once he’s back, AD is probably gonna be just fine in Dallas – He might even make them a legit playoff contender. However, this isn’t really a story of Mavs and Lakers or even of Luka and AD, rather, a lesson in NBA culture. Although a trade of this caliber being involuntary is incredibly rare, it’s a sort of sobering moment that reminds us that despite being centered around the game of basketball, the NBA is, at its core, a business. Because of this, executives, owners, and even the players themselves may make unpopular decisions for the sake of gaining or saving a buck…or in this case, 345 million bucks.