The Los Angeles Lakers, the Dallas Mavericks, and the league as a whole are getting the hang of how things have changed after the most shocking trade in NBA history. It is hard to imagine how even Anthony Davis and Luka Doncic — the protagonists in the trade — were in the dark. It’s equally, if not more, perplexing to accept that LeBron James had no idea about the shuffle on his roster. Everyone knows how James has always had a say about roster changes on his teams for a very long time. And, many including Stephen Jackson believe LBJ is lying about not being in the loop.
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As per reports, LeBron was out for dinner with family when the news was broken to him. He had apparently taken his time to process the information and had initially thought it to be a “hoax”. LeBron had earlier narrated the sequence of events: “AD FaceTimed me, and I talked to him for quite a while. Even when I got off the phone with him it still didn’t seem real.”
On a recent episode of Unplugged, Jackson called out the Lakers star, saying it is “first team all-common sense” that LeBron was consulted, or at least, informed about it beforehand.
“If you have…in your mind to call Bron and talk to him about it afterward, you call and talk to him about it before it happens. Come on, man. That’s just common sense,” Jackson said.
The 2003 NBA champion’s contention was that LBJ keeps a close tab on what’s happening across the league in real time. So a major change at his home simply had to go through him.
Stephen Jackson says Lebron is lying about not knowing the Lakers were going to trade AD 👀🔥 pic.twitter.com/NBy1cW5XBw
— Thetruth (@Thetruth8240) February 5, 2025
Matt Barnes chimed in on the discussion to guess why LBJ has been in denial. Davis was, and even is, probably upset about the whole affair.
“I think he probably had to deny it because AD is probably salty,” said Barnes.
Barnes added that if LBJ didn’t know about the trade, and was telling the truth, then it is a sign of changing dynamics in LA.
LeBron James explains how he thought the Luka trade was a “hoax” when he first heard it: pic.twitter.com/ZpqEahMKuz
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 5, 2025
Jackson and Barnes aren’t the only people who think James is lying about the whole episode.
Kevin Garnett called out LeBron James for lying
A player of LeBron’s stature is expected to have a finger on the pulse of everything that happens in his organization. In the past, he has been accused of moving players at will. So, it was difficult for people to take him seriously when he claimed no involvement or knowledge in the AD trade.
On the night when the news came out, Kevin Garnett was one of the first to call him out. KG took to his Instagram story and wrote, “Bron lyyyyyyyyyynnn. Of course he knew… had to sign off on it.. simple!! NBA biz.”
The NBA fans were also shocked to find out that the Mavs first reached out to the Lakers with the trade. It was also revealed that it took two to three weeks between the proposal of the trade and the conclusion, with both sides keeping everything hush-hush.
So, taking into account the nature of the deal, there is also a possibility that LBJ wasn’t informed about it until it came through.
