Charles Barkley has his own feelings on why the Dallas Mavericks decided to ship Luka Doncic out of town in the middle of the night.
Doncic’s trade shook up the basketball world and even led to protests outside of the American Airlines Center.
Here’s what the NBA legend and TNT analyst had to say about the move during this weekend’s appearance on NBA TV:
Let me tell you something… The only people know Luka Doncic is the Dallas Mavericks. Guys who’ve been with him for years, who are around him every day. He’s a great player. He’s a great player. But all us talking heads… They must know something we don’t know. Because, listen, he’s been hurt. Everybody complains about his conditioning… But once you give a guy five years, $350 million y’all are stuck together for life.
“They must know something we don’t know.” 👀
Charles Barkley on the Mavericks trading away Luka Dončić 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/IQG150H7gR
— NBA TV (@NBATV) February 2, 2025
Barkley added that the parts that surprised him the most were what the Mavs got back and that Dallas didn’t appear to shop around at all.
“Those are the two firsts aspects of this trade that are shocking. A star for a star and… they didn’t go for the highest bidder,” Barkley pointed out. “They went for a quick deal and it was over.”
Everyone has an opinion on what the Mavericks should’ve done but obviously they felt strongly enough that they were making the right decision.
It’s hard to imagine that that’ll end up actually being the case. But time will ultimately tell.
For now though we’ll just have to get used to the sight of Luka in Lakers gold and Anthony Davis playing on a team that doesn’t have LeBron on it for the first time in six seasons.
Related: LeBron James Explodes On NBA Reporter After Luka Doncic Trade