LeBron James Sends Heartfelt Message to Close Friend Anthony Davis After Shock Trade
The NBA was shaken up overnight as Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis were swapped in a stunning deal, and now LeBron James has said an emotional farewell to AD following a deal that neither of them clearly had any knowledge of beforehand.
The entire sports world was shocked on Saturday night as the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis in a deal that absolutely no one, not even NBA executives saw coming, with the Mavericks GM noting that he believes defense was holding this team back.
The deal came out of nowhere, with the Mavericks reportedly beginning talks with the Lakers, and while it's a massive pickup for LA, it does mean that they say farewell to Davis, who was a key part of their 2020 NBA Championship run and plenty of successful seasons.
Of course, the person most emotional about the situation was LeBron James, who gains an All-NBA teammate but loses one too, and on Sunday, he bid farewell to Davis on social media.
The two came together in Los Angeles several years ago, and although they won just one NBA title together, it was a great run for the franchise that had been struggling mightily in the years post-Kobe Bryant.
During his stint in LA, Davis played in 312 games, averaging 24.8 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists a game, as he upped his scoring to 28 a game in the year they won the NBA Championship, truly establishing himself as one of James' greatest ever NBA teammates.
For now though, the two part ways as Davis pairs up with Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson, and if these two teams meet in the NBA Playoffs this season, there's bound to be plenty of fireworks between them, especially given the way in which Doncic was treated by the organization on the way out.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Carter Verhaeghe | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Artemi Panarin | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Tage Thompson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Mika Zibanejad | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Aleksander Barkov | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Paul Cotter | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Evgeny Dadonov | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jack Eichel | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Wyatt Johnston | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alexander Killorn | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sam Reinhart | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Igor Sharangovich | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Tkachuk | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Dennis Cholowski | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jonathan Drouin | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Gustav Forsling | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Thomas Harley | - | 2 | 2 | |
| J.T. Miller | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 54 | 37 | 14 | 3 | 77 | |
Capitals | 52 | 34 | 11 | 7 | 75 | |
Oilers | 52 | 32 | 16 | 4 | 68 | |
Golden Knights | 52 | 31 | 15 | 6 | 68 | |
Hurricanes | 53 | 32 | 17 | 4 | 68 | |
Stars | 51 | 33 | 17 | 1 | 67 | |
Wild | 53 | 31 | 18 | 4 | 66 | |
Panthers | 53 | 31 | 19 | 3 | 65 | |
Maple Leafs | 52 | 31 | 19 | 2 | 64 | |
Devils | 53 | 29 | 18 | 6 | 64 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||