Lakers' Austin Reaves Said 'What The F--k' After Learning of Anthony Davis-Luka Trade
Austin Reaves said he was just as surprised as the rest of the NBA when he learned the Los Angeles Lakers had acquired Luka Dončić from the Dallas Mavericks last February in exchange for Anthony Davis.
Reaves said Wednesday on the Young Man and the Three podcast that he learned about the trade while on the team bus after a Saturday, Feb. 1 road game against the New York Knicks.
"We were like five minutes away from the hotel, and our group chat starts going crazy... The first thing I looked at, I pulled my phone up, AD said, 'They traded me,'" Reaves said.
"And, if anybody knows AD... he jokes around a lot. So I literally, I laughed and I put my phone down."
Reaves said he then saw the trade news shared just past midnight by ESPN's Shams Charania, called his agents Aaron Reilly and Reggie Berry.
"I was like, 'What the f--k?' They were like, 'No way this is real,'" Reaves said.
Dončić ultimately made his Lakers debut alongside Reaves and LeBron James just over a week later in a Feb. 10 game against the Utah Jazz.
Reaves said he then called Lakers assistant coach Beau Levesque and asked about the report.
"And he was like, 'Uhhh.' And that's all he said," Reaves said. "And I was like, 'Uhhh what?' He was like, 'It's real.'"
When Reaves asked Levesque how he knew that, the assistant coach said he was with Max Christie, who had just been dealt to the Mavericks alongside Davis.
Reaves said he was "obviously hurt" by the news that he would be parting ways with two longtime teammates.
"Being around them every single day for years— the next day, I think Max left at like four o'clock that morning to go to Dallas, so it's like he's just gone," Reaves said.
He concluded, "We got Luka, though... everything happens for a reason. I'm really excited about what we've got."
Reaves wasn't the only player who didn't see the Dončić-Davis deal coming. Dončić said he had to check if it was April 1" when he received the news. Davis said he was "shocked."
Even NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he was "surprised" by the deal, which ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Tim MacMahon later described as an "intensely secretive process" between Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison.
Dončić has since settled in with Reaves and his new teammates by signing a three-year extension this summer that has him set to become the face of the Lakers franchise in the post-James era.
Reaves, Dončić and James will tip off what could be their final campaign together when the Lakers open the regular season on Tuesday, Oct. 21 against the visiting Golden State Warriors.
