The NBA legend was as shocked to hear about the Doncic trade as everybody else, and floated an interesting theory.
Mike McDaniel | Feb 4, 2025
In this story:
- Dallas Mavericks
- Los Angeles Lakers
Retired NBA legend Dwyane Wade was shocked to hear about the trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, and immediately tried to figure out what could have driven the decision for the Dallas Mavericks.
And while there may never be fully rational reasons as to why this trade took place on the Mavericks' side, Wade thinks this is great news for the NBA. He said as much on his Trading Places podcast.
"First of all, I said to myself…before all the reports come out I said, 'No players were involved in this decision. This is billionaires' business,'" Wade began. "This was at the top. The last 12 to 15 years, the players have decided what we want to do. This was the owners, the governors, the billionaires deciding what they want to do. …This is amazing from the standpoint of the business of the game. Luka was number six in jersey sales with the Lakers. Now the international market, think about it. We just signed a new TV deal, what $25 billion? Let's just throw it out there. $25 billion TV deal. You got the top international player in LA, so the viewership, the ticket sales. Everybody. Europe, Spain, they're all coming into LA, so I'm looking at the business."
It's quite the leap by Wade to suggest that this was a brokered deal for the business of the NBA and not for the best interest of the two NBA franchises that made the trade, but it also would have been a leap last week to suggest that Luka Doncic would be traded before the trade deadline.
Anything is possible in the NBA.