February 1, 2025, is when the basketball world came crashing down. Luka Doncic was traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers. No one saw it coming, not even Doncic himself.
Los Angeles Lakers Governor Jeanie Buss, the daughter of the late Jerry Buss, spoke about the Doncic trade and how hard it was for him at first. Of course it was. He thought his whole career would be in Dallas, but former general manager Nico Harrison traded him at the 11th hour.
Now, Harrison was the culprit, as Dallas fans know all too well, but on Maria Sharapova's podcast, Buss mentions that Mark Cuban would've done whatever it took to keep Doncic in a Mavs uniform.
"I think Mark Cuban might have jumped in front of a train to keep (the Doncic trade) from happening."
Mark Cuban never should've sold the Dallas Mavericks
Cuban, who is now a minority owner, gave up the majority of ownership to Patrick Dumont and Miriam Adelson. Cuban giving up ownership backfired, and the Mavs lost sight of loyalty. They traded away arguably the face of the city, and that never would've happened on Cuban's watch as an owner.
Even with Cuban as the owner, he couldn't hang onto Steve Nash or Kristaps Porzingis. Now, Porzingis wasn't the player fans thought he would become, but it still hurt to see two guys in their prime let go like that.
But no way would Doncic have ever been traded under Cuban's ownership. He was smart enough to protect Dirk Nowitzki, and Doncic was already a future Hall of Fame player about to follow in the footsteps of the Mavs legend.
No fan will ever excuse Harrison. After all, he's the one who made the call, and after it was all set and done, it turned out to be the worst trade of all time. Harrison ended up getting fired after boos rained down, with the chants of "Fire Nico" making an appearance every home game.
A year after the trade, Anthony Davis was traded to the Washington Wizards, and after calling them a "very bad basketball team," he may not stay there for much longer.
But for Cuban, things became different when he sold the team. Hopefully, things get back on track with Cooper Flagg in the mix, but even the Buss family clearly saw the Mavs had a weak spot with Cuban acting as a minority owner rather than the majority owner.
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