AILSA CHANG, HOST:
All right. Yeah, I know it's Super Bowl week, but we're going to talk basketball for the next few minutes because here were some of the initial reactions over the weekend to the blockbuster trade that the NBA just announced - ain't no way, I'm sick right now, and W-T-F. Yep, that's what people were saying when they heard that the Dallas Mavericks Luka Doncic, widely considered a once-in-a-generation talent, is now a Los Angeles Laker. In return, his fellow All-NBA player Anthony Davis is headed to Dallas. The deal caught players, fans and sports writers off guard and has left them with a lot of questions.
Jason Gay was one of the many sports writers baffled by the trade. He's a sports columnist for The Wall Street Journal and joins us now. Welcome back to the show, Jason.
JASON GAY: Thank you so much. And, you know, it's even crazier than that. In addition to people being stunned by this, the initial wave was people thought it was a hoax.
CHANG: (Laughter).
GAY: In fact, the reporter at ESPN who broke the original news had to come forward and say, no, no, no, no, no, this is...
CHANG: This is real.
GAY: ...I haven't been hacked. This is not a fake story. So that goes to show you how incredulous the NBA community was about this trade.
CHANG: People were totally stunned. But as far as you can tell, like, why does this deal make any sense at all to the Mavericks and to the Lakers?
GAY: Well, Luka Doncic is one of the very, very few great, superstar young players who you could build a franchise around. I mean, we're talking about he's on the shortest possible list for MVP candidates for teams that could go to the finals every year. He's just a magnificent, magnetic player. And Dallas is basically at a crossroads where they have to make a decision as to whether or not they feel comfortable staying in the Luka Doncic business. Five years, $350 million - a contract...
CHANG: Ooh.
GAY: ...That he could sign as early as next summer - that's a lot of coin.
CHANG: Yeah.
GAY: That obviously sets a franchise into motion for the coming decade. And what you saw, I think, here was a little bit of cold feet on Dallas' part. Now, the outrage comes from the fact that the return doesn't feel equivalent. Dallas is getting back Anthony Davis, who's a wonderful player - 10-time all-star, 31-year-old, but, you know, he's six years older than Luka. I mean, the idea is, like, these guys like Luka come along very, very rarely, and when you do have an opportunity to deal it, the sky is the limit for what you can ask.
CHANG: Yeah.
GAY: And the real wonderment is what did Dallas ask for here?
CHANG: OK, so that is why a lot of people are calling this trade basically malpractice - right? - like, based on Luka's talent and global stardom. And I heard that even some fans took a coffin up to the Mavericks arena over the weekend for a fake funeral. Can you just talk about how big of a loss this is for Dallas specifically - for the fans, for the club?
GAY: I mean, Luka Doncic is the biggest athlete in Texas. And I'm saying that about Texas, the home of the Dallas Cowboys. Luka Doncic was somebody that if you lived in Dallas, you thought was going to be in your life for the next 20 years, and now he is on his way to Los Angeles, to LeBron James and the Lakers. I think they are completely shocked, and the sort of mock funeral you saw is basically Mavericks fans being completely pessimistic that the team has a plan that's going to get them anywhere near close to as good as they were when they had Luka around.
CHANG: Yeah. Well, hey, I don't know much about basketball, but I do feel like I'm always hearing trash talk about how cities like Los Angeles or New York invariably land stars. Like, I mean, you know, are the Lakers just getting really greedy here? - because they already have LeBron James. What does bringing Doncic into the picture do for their future?
GAY: Well, believe it or not, LeBron James turned 40, so the Lakers are definitely in a situation where they need to make a bridge to the next generation. And yes, it's definitely true that historically, big-market teams have commanded top players and gotten the interest from players, but that has faded a little bit. You know, we went through some real fallow periods with the New York Knicks, for example, where franchise, you know, chaos scared people away from coming to New York City. But the Lakers, they just never seem to miss a beat. And just when you think that they're going to fall off relevancy, here they come roaring back again.
CHANG: OK. Well, as controversial as this trade has been already, how will everybody be measuring the success of the trade?
GAY: I think for Dallas, it's very much a short-term question. They have to perform right now 'cause they're older. Luka, there's no pressure for him to deliver immediately. This is a trade that was made for Los Angeles with the coming decade in mind...
CHANG: Yeah.
GAY: ...And building upon his presence, not in just getting LeBron to the championship once more.
CHANG: That is Jason Gay, sports columnist for The Wall Street Journal. Thank you so much, Jason.
GAY: I appreciate it. Thank you so much.
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