What Jeanie Buss just admitted about the Lakers' sneaky Luka Doncic trade has Mark Cuban furious
What Jeanie Buss just admitted about the Lakers' sneaky Luka Doncic trade has Mark Cuban furious originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Over a year after the NBA’s most shocking trade, we finally know the full story. The Los Angeles Lakers literally ran a secret operation to land Luka Doncic , specifically to keep Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban from stopping it. So, those who said the Purple and Gold got lucky were absolutely wrong.
Lakers owner Jeanie Buss recently sat down with Maria Sharapova on the Pretty Tough podcast and offered her clearest public account yet of the blockbuster deal.
Jeanie Buss confirms the Lakers deliberately hid the Luka Doncic trade talks
In Feb. 2025, the Lakers got Doncic in a three-team deal involving the Utah Jazz . In return, the Mavericks received Anthony Davis , Max Christie , and a 2029 first-round pick.
The Shovenian star reportedly didn't know about the move until it was finished. Buss told Sharapova that secrecy was the only way the deal would work.
"In order to trade somebody like Anthony Davis, it would have to be with my approval," Buss said . "And certainly getting a player of Luka's caliber and him being at the beginning end of his career was just an extraordinary opportunity.”
She added, “But it required a lot of strategy and a lot of small steps in order to pull it off. Rob Pelinka was able to do that all without it leaking to the media, because I think Mark Cuban might have jumped in front of a train to keep it from happening."
Within the Lakers, only a small group knew about the talks. Buss confirmed that LeBron James , Doncic, and Davis were all unaware. On Feb. 1, the night before the announcement, the Lakers beat the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden 128-112. JJ Redick knew the deal was close but did not tell the players during the game.
Following the trade, former owner Mark Cuban expressed regret, bluntly noting that if he had remained in charge, the trade would never have happened. He only found out about the deal via text when it was already finalized.
The Mavericks eventually fired GM Nico Harrison after a 3-8 start to the 2025-26 season, with the trade widely cited as a contributing factor.
Since then, the deal has looked completely one-sided. Doncic led the league in scoring this season with 33.5 points per game but suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain on April 2 against the Thunder .
However, the Lakers managed to beat the Rockets in six games without him and will now face Oklahoma City in the Western Conference Semifinals. Game 1 starts Tuesday.
Shams Charania reports that Doncic likely won't play early in the series. His recovery is slow, and he hasn't returned to full workouts yet. Sources suggest he might return for Games 3 or 4 when the series moves to Los Angeles .
