During his All-Star weekend press conference, Adam Silver was asked multiple questions about the Dallas Mavericks’ trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I was surprised when I heard about the trade,” began Silver. “I did not know that Luka was potentially a player that was about to be traded. That was news to me. I followed it like a fan from that standpoint.
“I’ve said before, that’s the kind of confidential information that’s generally not shared with the league in advance unless a team is publicly shopping a player, and to the best of my knowledge, that’s not what happened in the case of Dallas and Los Angeles.
“In terms of anger with the fan base, I’m empathetic. I understand it. Dallas was in the Finals last year. I’ve already said this before: I like Luka very much. I actually met him before he came into this league when he was at Real Madrid, when we were over there playing a preseason game. It seems genuinely, truly authentic that he was stunned and disappointed. You could see it in his body language.
“Having said all that, I also am sympathetic to the Mavericks’ organization. I’ve known Nico Harrison for a long time from his prior tenure at Nike, and I’ve gotten to be close to Patrick Dumont, our new governor in Dallas. I can say one thing for sure: Whether or not history will ultimately judge this as a smart trade, they did what they thought was in the best interest of their organization.
“I have absolutely no knowledge or belief there were any ulterior motives. There’s no doubt in my mind that the Dumont and Adelson families bought that team to keep it in Dallas. I have no doubt whatsoever that they’re committed to the long-term success of that franchise.
“In terms of the Dallas fans, all I can say to them is again, time will tell whether it was a smart trade, but I think they should believe in their organization. Their organization truly made a trade that they believed was in the best interest of the organization, and in many cases, again, it doesn’t mean they were right or wrong, but it’s very difficult to put yourself in their shoes. They are living with the situation. They have a philosophical belief on what’s necessary ultimately to win championships, and I’m not in a position to second-guess that.”