On February 2nd, the NBA shocked the world. With the season’s impending trade deadline on the 6th, teams rushed to finalize deals and improve their teams ahead of the end of the regular season. One trade stood out amongst the others, with Luka Doncic (and others) being traded for standout 10-time All-Star defensive player Anthony Davis.

This means that the Mavericks are trading the player who single-handedly led them to the NBA Finals in exchange for an aging, albeit outstanding, player. On top of this already stunning information, it was revealed that Luka never requested a trade and only realized about it after the fact. 

The Slovenian All Star Luka made his statement titled “Dear Dallas,” where he chronicled his experiences with the team, claiming, “For a young kid from Slovenia coming to the U.S for the first time, you made North Texas feel like home. In good times and bad, from injuries to the NBA Finals, your support never changed.” He ends his letter by thanking the fans as Luka enters a new era of not only his career but also his life. 

This parting has not been one sided, either. Fans left Luka jerseys across Dallas with goodbye signs and well wishes, and even a mock funeral, protesting the Dallas Mavericks decisions. 

One Apex High School student said the trade was “absolutely horrendous” and “never should have happened,” believing that Luka Doncic was worth much more than what he was traded for. Still, the student maintained that the Mavericks would still be a top three team in their conference (despite currently sitting at #8), and the impact won’t be as big as people hypothesize.

Of course, Anthony Davis was just as big of a part of the Lakers as any star player can be. Davis wrote his brief goodbye letter reminiscing on how he came to the Lakers for a championship and the moment he earned one. Davis ends his letter with high hopes, saying, “Dallas- here we come!”

How these players will impact their new respective teams we don’t know yet, but they certainly will as every team in the NBA works to earn a spot in the 2025 playoffs.