Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis were the centerpiece of a trade between the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers that has rocked the NBA in recent days. Now, Miami Heat icon Dwyane Wade has weighed in with his candid take on the deal.
“This is billionaires’ business,” Wade said on his podcast The Why, reflecting on his first thoughts when hearing about the trade. “This last 12 to 15 years, the players have decided what we want to do. This was the owners, the governors, the billionaires deciding what they want to do.”
Wade then delved deeper into his perspective on the trade, explaining that it had more to do with business than sports. “I looked at the business of the game. I said, ‘Okay, so the NBA—who everyone talks about—the viewership in America is down,” he said. “And so our viewership, our money, our stars in the game today—all international players for the most part.'”
The former Miami Heat guard went on to discuss how Doncic’s move to the Lakers could have a far greater impact than staying with the Mavericks. “One of the biggest international stars now, at 25 years old, gets traded to the Los Angeles Lakers—the biggest market in the world for sports is the Lakers,” Wade noted. “So the viewership, the ticket sales—everybody, Europe, Spain, they’re all coming into LA.”
What the Mavericks stand to gain
Dwyane Wade also shared his thoughts on what the Mavericks could gain from the deal. “This is a win-now situation for Dallas… They moved off someone who we all said, ‘Man, it’s Luka Magic. He’s a star.’ But how did they feel? They want to win a championship. They didn’t feel that, at this time in his career, he could do that with a win-now team, right? Right. They wanted a win-now mentality.”
Doncic’s impact in Los Angeles
For Wade, the trade represents much more than a mere star swap between two franchises. “You get 10 years of Luka being the face of the Lakers,” he said. “But you also get to put him with LeBron James, who—let’s say he can play as long as he wants—but you get to put him with the guy who’s been the face of the league, who can show him how to be the face of the league.”
Dwyane emphasized the broader implications of the trade. “That is the best example you can have. Yeah, you put him with the Lakers. You put him with LeBron. Go learn. Because we need you to be the face of this league. Because this is a business, and this is about bread too.”
Wade wrapped up his thoughts by revisiting the off-court ramifications of Doncic’s move to Los Angeles. “Luka was number six in jersey sales in Dallas. Luka now shoots to number one in jersey sales with the Lakers,” he pointed out. “I looked at the business side. I was like, ‘This is genius.'”