Can any of us stand here and honestly say that they were a big fan of the Luka Doncic trade? A move that was so surprising that it even led NBA players like Jalen Brunson and Bam Adebayo to question whether they were being pranked? Probably not, considering the public backlash Mavericks GM Nico Harrison has continued to receive over the last 2 months. For someone to trade away the future of the franchise, see the Mavs struggle in the post-season, and then laugh at fans and say “I Didn’t Know Doncic Was So Important to Them” is not a big support winner. As a result, even rival team owners are now highlighting their dismay about the trade. In public.
Billionaire and Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta recently attended a celebratory ceremony for the Houston Cougars basketball team. The Cougars could not win the NCAA championship this year. However, they had a memorable run by defeating Duke to reach the NCAA Finals for the first time since 1984. Fertitta has been a big supporter of the University of Houston. Therefore, he was called on to give a speech during the ceremony. During the same time, he recalled being in a meeting, in the White House’s Oval Office, with President Donald Trump and Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Being the owner of a basketball team, Fertitta couldn’t help but take a jab at the recent blunder by the Mavs’ GM during the talk.
“I was in the White House, in the Oval Office, with the Prime Minister of Italy, and the President, last Thursday, and we talked about the Houston Cougars, I can promise you, for at least a minute and a half,” said Fertitta as cheers and applause greeted his remarks.
The billionaire then added that “And then we talked about that dumba*s Luka Doncic trade that Dallas did.” Yikes! It is important to remember that Fertitta is currently nominated to be Trump’s United States Ambassador to Italy. He is also nominated to be the United States Ambassador to San Marino. Therefore, he had proper access to have a worthwhile conversation with the two world leaders, even though he is yet to be the official Ambassador. When having a closed-door meeting, it isn’t rare for people to divert from the main topic. Given how big the Luka Doncic trade was, Fertitta had to certainly bring it up in front of the US President himself.
SHOTS FIRED
At a Houston Cougar season celebration, Rockets owner, Tilman Fertitta spoke on how he recently had a chance to speak to President Trump about his Coogs.
He followed that up with:
“And then we talked about that dumbass Luka Doncic trade Dallas did” pic.twitter.com/RpzV10Q8Fj
— Chancellor Johnson (@ChancellorTV) April 24, 2025
David Fertitta’s remarks came amid the growing consensus that the Lakers were the ultimate winners of the February trade. After all, upon his arrival, the Lakers went on an 18-10 run. The team was able to secure the 3rd seed in the Western Conference table to qualify for the playoffs. The player also left a memorable impression on his teammates. LeBron James even stated, “Luka plays like me, I’ve always wanted to inspire new generations to play. And for him there is nothing predetermined”.
On the other hand, Anthony Davis got injured and was sidelined briefly, in the same game where he made his Mavs debut after the trade. While the Mavs were able to go on a 6-3 run with Davis, it wasn’t enough to help the team secure a playoff qualifying seed. How can Nico Harrison say the decision was good when even the Mavs’ previous team owner was against it?
Mark Cuban once famously said, “If I had to choose between my wife & keeping Luka on the Mavs, catch me at my lawyer’s office prepping for a divorce”. Unfortunately, the billionaire could not have the final say, having sold his majority ownership shares in late December 2023.
As ESPN’s Tim McMahon recently reported, “Harrison had succeeded in pushing Cuban completely out of basketball operations since Patrick Dumont took over as the team’s governor and didn’t want to cede any ground, sources said.” In the end, Cuban had to sit courtside, with his head in his hands, as the ‘Fire Nico’ chants kept erupting across the Mavs stadium.
We can’t know for sure what conversation David Fertitta had with the President. Who knows, maybe he would have even brought up the claims about Trump that had been running around after the trade.
Was Donald Trump responsible for Luka Doncic’s trade?
In the aftermath of the shocking trade announcement, it was evident that the blame game would run rampant for days. While the obvious blame lay on Nico Harrison’s shoulders, fans were still able to raise theories about the reason why. Some people believed Luka Dončić was an injury risk (quite ironic, since he was traded for Anthony Davis). Others believed his trade was all part of a plan to shift the Mavs to Vegas. Some people went as far as to blame the President himself!
Luka Doncic’s trade came around the same time President Trump signed an executive order. The same authorized a 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico. It also included a 10% tariff on imports from China.
As reported by OutKick, Miriam Adelson, who owns a controlling interest in the Mavs, once donated $100 million to Trump’s campaign during the 2024 Presidential election. This led OutKick reporter Mark Harris to write that “So, since Trump is good friends with the Mavericks’ owner, perhaps he made a call to her asking her to trade away the face of the franchise out of absolutely nowhere to distract from the tariff talk. Seriously, that’s the theory some are floating on social media”.
Harris isn’t solely to blame for this report, as he was solely the messenger of the several messages people put on X.
could this Luka AD trade happened all of a sudden forced by the US goverment to shadow the news about Canada and Mexico’s retalition on tariff on US Goods?
— Affandi A Rachman (@apar13) February 2, 2025
Of course, this is nothing more than a conspiracy theory. Then again, when looking at the aftermath of the trade, one has to wonder if outside forces played a hand in the decision. The real answer may never be made known to the public, unfortunately. Therefore, all one can do is cheer on Luka Doncic and hope the Dallas Mavericks soon get out of their deep pit of despair.
The post Rockets Owner Confirms Luka Doncic Talks With Donald Trump Before Confessing True Feelings About Nico Harrison’s Surprise Decision appeared first on EssentiallySports.
