NBA – Draymond Green honest about Luka’s arrival at the Lakers: “I ran into the owner, he told me that!”

NBA (DR) / BasketballNews (DR)

Par Guillaume Kagni | Journaliste sportif

Time has passed since then, the Mavericks have bounced back with the first pick of the next draft, but Luka Doncic’s arrival at the Lakers will go down as one of the craziest moments in NBA history. Draymond Green is back on it.

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This 2024-2025 season will go down in league history, that’s for sure. Already, the Finals will see the coronation of a young superstar who could dominate for years to come. On the one hand, there’s Tyrese Haliburton, who takes decisive shots to give the Pacers victories, and on the other, MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who could inherit the status of best player in the world.

But apart from the sporting aspect, what is likely to stay in the memory of all fans is this lunar exchange between the Lakers and the Mavericks. This winter, for the first time in a long time – perhaps even the first time since the creation of the league – a talent deemed untouchable was traded without even asking for it. Luka Doncic’s arrival at the Lakers was a real earthquake.

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Draymond Green reflects on Luka’s trade to the Lakers

While his partnership with LeBron James hasn’t produced a title yet, the Purple and Gold seem to have secured their future with this deal. Appearing on American TV legend Jimmy Kimmel’s show, Draymond Green looked back on this move that nobody could have predicted. Incidentally, the Warriors were also close to a big move.

I couldn’t believe it when Luka was sent to the Lakers. At first, I really thought Shams Charania had been hacked. When it happened, we were at the Warriors poker tournament, it was a charity tournament. 10 minutes before, I ran into Joe Lacob, the franchise owner, and he was so excited. He told me that Kevin Durant was this close to coming back with us.

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Two minutes later, I see him come running back to tell me it was secret and not to tell anyone. At one point, Steph yells at me, “Did you see the trade?!”. I thought he was talking about KD. That’s when he explained to me that Luka was leaving for Los Angeles. That’s when the viral video was shot where you see us reacting. You never see an exchange like that.

Draymond Green experienced a real emotional elevator at the trade deadline. In the space of a few minutes, he went from the joy of Kevin Durant’s return to the Warriors, even though he was one of the reasons he left, to the surprise of the trade between the Lakers and the Mavericks. Everything moves fast in the NBA, and superstars know this better than anyone.