Lakers Owner Jeanie Buss Initially Didn't Approve of Team Trading Anthony Davis

The Lakers owner has some hesitancy about giving away the All-NBA big man.

Mar 1, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis looks on against the Milwaukee Bucks during the first half at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

No trade has been more impactful this NBA season than the one the Los Angeles Lakers made two weeks before the trade deadline. They traded Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a first-round pick for Luka Doncic and Maxi Kleber.

Doncic has already gotten comfortable with the Lakers. He had 45 points in the loss against the Bucks on Thursday but has helped Los Angeles win a lot of games already.

Davis got hurt in his first game with the Mavericks and hasn't played since. The trade has been such a massive win that it seems inconceivable that the Lakers almost didn't make this trade.

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That's exactly what happened, though. Lakers owner Jeanie Buss had some hesitancy about trading Davis, who helped the franchise win the title back in the 2020 season.

Buss recently opened up on Games with Names about how she initially wasn't sure trading Davis was the best idea for the organization.

“At that point, that’s when Rob was at the game and he met with the GM of Dallas. And they had a conversation. And Rob thought about it for a day and then came to me and said ‘Here’s something that was talked about, a framework.’ And I said well, I hope you told him that we’re not trading Anthony Davis. We’re not trading him. And as we talked more and more, we figured out a framework that could work."

Buss wasn't sure that trading Davis was going to be right for how the rest of the team was built. She loved what Davis gave to the team in terms of his defense.

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Los Angeles made the right move for the future of the franchise. Doncic is someone who can be the face of their team for the next decade.

Davis is someone who is injury-prone and is much older than Doncic. It was an absolute no-brainer to make that trade, and Buss eventually signed off on it.

Davis might eventually be really good for Dallas. Doncic is already really good for the Lakers, though.

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