LeBron: Reporter 'a Fkn Lie!!! 🤥🤡' for Anthony Davis Rumor After Luka, Lakers Trade

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James refuted a report that he had "grown frustrated" with teammate Anthony Davis prior to Sunday's blockbuster trade with the Dallas Mavericks.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported the Lakers are sending Davis to the Mavs for a package headlined by Luka Dončić.

In the immediate aftermath of the news, Ben Reiter of CBS Sports pointed to his previous reporting more than a year ago about James potentially losing some faith in Davis. LeBron quickly pushed back against that narrative, posting on X that "You a fkn lie!!!"

Preceding Reiter's original report in 2023, Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd reported on his radio show that February that James "not happy" with Davis and that AD could wind up on the Mavs.

At least half of that has proven true.

Nothing new has emerged to hint at any discord between James and Davis, and this trade doesn't appear to have executed with LeBron in mind. Charania reported on SportsCenter the Mavericks actually offered Dončić to the Lakers, who "had to huddle internally" because they hadn't explored an AD trade at all to that point.

Charania added that pretty much everybody outside of Los Angeles and Dallas' front offices was kept in the dark. James wasn't consulted, and neither Davis nor Dončić was given the impression that a trade would happen.

More details will inevitably come out in the ensuing days, and perhaps additional context behind James and Davis' relationship will surface.

For now, it's hard to view the move as a negative reflection on AD.

Dončić is six years younger than Davis and already a more valuable player on the court. He can be the anchor of a post-LeBron future for Los Angeles, which Davis simply wasn't going to become. The organization is set up incredibly well for the long term.

Pelinka could've had complete faith in the LeBron/AD tandem right now, yet this opportunity was too good to pass up.