Dwyane Wade believes Luka Doncic’s trade to the Los Angeles Lakers is part of a wider conspiracy.
The Los Angeles Lakers trading for Luka Doncic is nothing short of era-defining. In one fell swoop, the Lakers landed a top-three player in the NBA and secured their future.
The Lakers were able to get Luka Doncic for an insanely cheap price. In fact, Bill Simmons called out Mavericks GM Nico Harrison for getting swindled by the Lakers.
This was an incredible trade, one that fans will remember forever. And now, one of the most popular players in the NBA plays for the biggest franchise in the league.
But could there be more at play here? One former NBA star certainly seems to believe this. And he accused the NBA of helping the Lakers.
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Dwyane Wade spoke on his podcast about the latest trade. He believes that the upper echelon of the NBA and investors had a lot to do with this deal.
Wade explained how Luka Doncic moving to the Lakers massively benefits the NBA. The financial ramifications that come from this deal are astronomical.
He believes this was about ownership taking back control of what has recently become a ‘player’s league’.
Wade said: “First of all, I said to myself, before all the reports came out I said, no players were involved in this decision; this is billionaires’ business.”
“This was at the top; the 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’s theory that this was the NBA taking control of the deal is certainly interesting. No one can deny that the Lakers landing Doncic is a massive boost to the NBA’s popularity.
He adds: “This is amazing from the standpoint of the business of the game. Luka was number six in jersey sales in Dallas, Luka now shoots to number 1 in jersey sales with the Lakers.”
The biggest team in the league having the best player is always a major help. And pairing him with LeBron James, arguably the greatest of all time, is just icing on the cake.
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Dwyane Wade then pointed to the NBA’s international business ventures. He cited how well the league is doing, but can improve now that the Lakers have an international megastar like Luka Doncic.
“Now, the international market, think about it; we just signed a new TV deal, what $25 billion, let’s just throw it out there, $25 billion TV deal.”
“You got the top international player in LA, so the viewership, the ticket sales. Everybody, Europe, Spain, they’re all coming into LA, so I’m looking at the business.”
“I’m like, this was an amazing business decision by billionaires to say this is what I want for now, and this is what we need as a league,”
Wade seems to think that the teams or players involved had no input in this trade. Rather, the NBA took control and made a business move to send Luka Doncic to the Lakers.
And it certainly seemed like Doncic knew little about it. But it was also a trade initiated by the Dallas Mavericks, it is important to note.
Nico Harrison controversially believes the Mavs are better without Doncic, believing Anthony Davis presents them with a better defense, and better chance to win a title.
