Luka Doncic is a Los Angeles Laker and the NBA world is still in shock.
At the top of that list is former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
Cuban bought the franchise in 2000 and had owned it for nearly 24 seasons before selling it to Patrick Dumont and the Adelson family in 2023.
To be clear, Cuban had nothing to do with trading the generational Doncic to the Lakers in one of the most jaw-dropping and stunning trades in the history of the league.
Former Maverick, Chandler Parsons, shared what Cuban’s reaction was when he had reached out to the former owner immediately following the news of the trade.
“I texted him,” Parsons said on FanDuel TV’s Run It Back.
“And I said, ‘I’m so confused.’ And he wrote back, ‘That makes two of us.’
“So that kind of tells you right there — he wasn’t involved.
“By the way, this new ownership — Patrick Dumont and the Adelson family — are business people, right? They’re Vegas casino and real estate moguls. They know nothing about the NBA or basketball.
“So they’ve fully given Nico (Harrison) the keys to make decisions and bold moves like this.
“I believe Mark. I think this is just as much of a shock to him as it is to all of us…
“I texted him, and he literally said, ‘That makes two of us.’
“So he’s probably just as shocked as we all are.“
It’s clear Cuban was in disbelief.
After all, this is coming from a man who once said, ‘If I had to choose between my wife and keeping Luka on the Mavs, catch me at my lawyer’s office prepping for a divorce.’
Cuban would have never traded the 25-year-old Slovenian star for anything.
Not even his own wife.
Parsons also revealed that Doncic had just purchased a $15million home in the Dallas area and closed on it last week.
“Apparently he cried when he found out,” Parsons said about Doncic when he learned he was being traded from Dallas to Los Angeles.
That house will now presumably be back on the market, as Doncic moves to California to begin the next chapter of his career.
A move that still doesn’t feel real – not to Doncic, not to Cuban, not to anyone.