Luka Doncic’s trade to the Los Angeles Lakers was arguably the most sensational move in NBA history, as a young superstar got moved away from a team he had played for throughout his career in the league. It was a trade which caused waves all across social media and the basketball world, with not even the best of the best exempt from total shock regarding the news.
Doncic joined LeBron James at the Lakers, further heating up the Californian rivalry between the Lakers and the Golden State Warriors. So sensational was the move that it left Warriors legend and star Stephen Curry reeling from the news.
Curry’s long-time teammate Draymond Green reflected on how the news went down when it was announced by NBA insider Shams Charania, an X post that shook the basketball landscape. Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel’s talk-show, Green revealed how exactly it went down.
“I’m at this [charity poker] tournament and I sit down, 15 minutes later Steph yells ‘Draymond! You seen the trade?’ He’s like Luka got traded,” explained Green regarding the situation.
“There’s this video of us reacting. I couldn’t believe it, you know, superstars at 25 don’t get traded. Luka’s a mega-star just coming off the NBA Finals. You just don’t see that in the NBA. I immediately wondered, I have to be next, they must be coming for us too.”
‘Don’t tell anyone else…'
Green and Curry have teamed up for four NBA titles, three in a space of four years between 2015 and 2018, and most recently in 2022. Despite seeing everything that basketball has to offer, watching a true superstar cross over without any trade demands, and especially from a successful team, was something that caught them off guard.
{{/usCountry}}Green and Curry have teamed up for four NBA titles, three in a space of four years between 2015 and 2018, and most recently in 2022. Despite seeing everything that basketball has to offer, watching a true superstar cross over without any trade demands, and especially from a successful team, was something that caught them off guard.
{{/usCountry}}It wasn’t the only high-profile trade discussed at that charity poker tournament, with Green also speaking about how a potential Kevin Durant return to Golden State was in the pipeline at that point in time.
“Joe Lakob, majority owner of the Warriors tells me ‘Draymond, we got Kevin Durant, it’s happening, it’s at the finish line.’ I’m like oh man, let’s go. He comes running back to me two minutes later saying ‘Draymond, Draymond, I’m not supposed to say anything. Don’t tell anyone else,’” explained Green, who had a famous fallout with Durant which led to the superstar’s move away from the Warriors after winning two championships in Oakland.