One reason conspiracy theories are so popular is that they attempt to explain things that don’t make sense. In sports, one of the most confusing topics right now is the Dallas Mavericks trading Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers.
After the surprising news broke that the Mavericks had traded their 25-year-old star, a five-time first-team All-NBA player, conspiracy theories quickly started circulating. The most common theory is that the NBA’s top leaders set up the trade to boost ratings, with one of the league’s brightest young stars now joining the most famous team.
Dwyane Wade suggested this move was the NBA owners’ way of taking control back from the players, while Bill Simmons speculated that the trade was a way to turn Mavericks fans against the team, possibly setting the stage to move the franchise to Las Vegas.
Despite his ability to analyze NBA transactions, Brian Windhorst isn’t buying into these theories. Instead, Windhorst, who is known for reading between the lines, says he’s doing something he doesn’t often do in his more than 20 years of covering the NBA — he’s believing what everyone involved has said about the deal.
“This is also uncharted territory, what I’m about to say,” Windhorst said on Wednesday’s Get Up. “I believe everything that everybody has said about this deal. Everything that LeBron [James] says, everything that Luka says, everything that Rob Pelinka and Nico Harrison, everything that Kyrie [Irving] said. I believe everybody is telling the truth.
I never believe that in the NBA when it comes to what they say in the media. In this case, from what I know, I think everybody is telling the truth.”
Windhorst explained that the trade might not be as complicated as people think. He believes the Mavericks simply didn’t want to pay Dončić a $350 million supermax extension this summer. And even though the trade might be the first time in LeBron James’ career that he wasn’t consulted about a major move, acquiring a player like Dončić was a clear decision for the Lakers.
“Everything is just straight on the up and up,” Windhorst said. “It’s stunning. It’s shocking. It may be a massive mistake for the Dallas Mavericks. But everything that happened is straight on. I know it’s hard to accept because of the world we’re in today. But that is indeed what has gone on and that is my takeaway.”
“I know that there is QAnon, Illuminati, 4D chess theories, I reject all of them,” Windhorst said. “I think it is exactly as it seems on face value.” Although he usually thinks there’s always more to the story in the NBA, Windhorst believes the facts from the Mavericks, Lakers, players, and general managers involved all line up, even if the trade is still shocking.
The main reason this trade is so surprising is that it’s hard to understand why a team would give up on a player as talented and young as Dončić. But once you accept that this is what happened, even if you don’t agree with it, the rest of the details make sense.
