Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Anthony Davis says part of his job in Dallas will be to offer reassurance to Mavericks fans shocked and angered by the team’s decision to ship 25-year-old talisman Luka Doncic to Los Angeles in exchange for the Lakers’ star big man. The blockbuster deal, after Doncic led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season, sent shockwaves through the NBA and sparked outrage in Dallas, where some heartbroken fans staged a mock funeral outside the Mavs’ American Airlines Center.
“I understand it,” Davis said on Friday at a press conference to officially introduce him in Dallas. “Obviously, it’s a business, and I get who Luka was to this franchise, to the city. I’m never going to downplay that — just how I know what I meant to the city of LA. So I’m not surprised by the fans’ reaction and the city’s reaction. But it’s my job to come in and play basketball and do what I’m supposed to do and give the fans hope and reassurance on why (general manager) Nico (Harrison) brought me here.”
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Davis, who was nursing an abdominal strain when the trade came down, is scheduled to make his Mavs debut in Saturday’s home game against the Houston Rockets. Klay Thompson, the sharpshooter brought in from Golden State in the off-season, said the team was bracing for a “weird” atmosphere. An online fundraiser had garnered more than $40,000 as of Friday to erect billboards protesting Harrison and team ownership.
“I don’t know how tomorrow’s going to be as far as the reaction, but I can’t control that,” Davis said. “What I can control is going in and just winning basketball games and helping the team do whatever I can. It’s unfamiliar territory for Davis, who was welcomed with jubilation when the New Orleans Pelicans made him the number one overall draft pick in 2012 after he was named the National College Player of the Year in his lone season at the University of Kentucky. He was greeted with similar enthusiasm when he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in July 2019 and teamed with LeBron James to win the NBA title in 2020.
Harrison has pointed to Davis’s defensive excellence as a reason for making the deal. The five-time All-Defensive selection is averaging 25.7 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game this season. “To have Nico trade for me just shows his belief in me and what I can do on the floor,” Davis said. “It’s my job to produce every night and have Mavs nation believe that as well. I’m excited for the challenge,” he said.
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