Kevin Durant was left open-mouthed in courtside footage that reportedly shows his live reaction to the ‘crazy’ trade involving Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis.
It emerged shortly after midnight ET on Saturday that the Los Angeles Lakers are sending Davis, a 2029 first-round pick and Max Christie to the Mavericks, in exchange for Doncic – one of the stars of the NBA – Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris.
It is one of the most remarkable trades in NBA history and, before long, many of basketball’s biggest stars expressed their shock at the news.
The Phoenix Suns were still playing against the Portland Trail Blazers when reports first emerged. And soon a clip of Durant spread on social media.
In the video, the two-time NBA champion and his teammates can be seen looking at cell phones on the bench.
Durant then sits back and stares into the distance, his face a picture of confusion and shock. Before long, he takes another look at the cell phone before handing it over, open-mouthed.
Kevin Durant was left open-mouthed after reportedly hearing about the Luka Doncic trade
Doncic is heading to the Los Angeles Lakers with Davis off to Dallas in the shock trade
‘This has to be the biggest trade I’ve seen since I’ve been in the league or since I’ve been watching the sport, this is insane,’ Durant later said. ‘I’m still shocked.’
Many of his Suns teammates were similarly stunned, while further down the bench, Mason Plumlee can be seen looking in the 36-year-old’s direction with a huge smile.
‘It’s crazy. It’s crazy… I would have never though Luka Doncic would get traded at this age, mid-season,’ Durant said after the game.
‘The NBA is a wild place, man. If he can get traded then anybody’s up for grabs. For the fans, for somebody spectating it’s pretty fun.
‘I know it’s kind of nerve-wracking though, probably for Luka, everybody in Dallas, LA, AD… For everybody involved, I’m sure their heads are spinning right now.
Durant was asked whether this deal underscored how ‘transactional’ the relationship is between NBA players and organizations.
‘Players are held to a different standard of loyalty, commitment to a program, but organizations don’t get held to that same standard from the outside world,’ he said.
‘We all should be held to that same standard. It’s a transactional game, there’s a lot of money involved. We shouldn’t be too shocked about trades.
‘It’s crazy. It’s crazy… the NBA is a wild place, man,’ Durant said after the game on Saturday
‘It’s a pretty wild time in the NBA, especially around the trade deadline. I know everybody’s gonna be watching their phone for the next week.’
Durant speculated that this deal could give other teams more ‘courage’ to make huge trades.
‘(If) you start seeing stuff like that, as an organization, you might get a little bit more courage to do some stuff when you see another team trade away somebody like that,’ he added.
‘This has to be the biggest trade I’ve seen since I’ve been in the league or since I’ve been watching the sport, this is insane. So yeah, every other team might get the confidence to say: ‘I’ll trade my top players, a few of my top players, f*** it, if this ain’t working… I’m still shocked.’
