Over a year after the shocking trade that changed the Dallas Mavericks, Jeanie Buss sat down and explained exactly how it happened. The short version is that Mark Cuban wasn't arround to even find out about it.
Jeanie Buss confirmed this week that the Luka Doncic trade only worked because Mark Cuban was kept completely in the dark.
"Rob Pelinka was able to do that all without leaking to the media," the Lakers governor said on Pretty Tough with Maria Sharapova, "because I think Mark Cuban might have jumped in front of a train to keep it from happening."
The circle of knowledge inside the Lakers building was microscopic. Conversations started in early January 2025 during the Los Angeles wildfires. LeBron James did not know. Anthony Davis did not know. Doncic did not know. Coach JJ Redick found out on the day of the trade and coached a game at Madison Square Garden that night while carrying the information alone. The Lakers won 128-112. By the time the buzzer sounded, the trade was hours from going public.
The vulnerability that made all of this possible was created the moment Cuban sold his majority stake to Patrick Dumont in December 2023. For 23 years Cuban's presence made a trade like this nearly impossible. Pelinka understood that the new regime operated differently and moved accordingly.
Cuban addressed the cultural disconnect that led to the trade on The Stephen A. Smith Show ahead of Doncic's return to Dallas in April 2025. He pointed to a fundamental failure inside the organization. "He's always really intense on the court," Cuban said of Doncic. "You see his response to the referees. You see his responses to anybody. He is intense. And the people running this team didn't understand that about him."
Buss also added a personal layer to the story. She revealed she always had a soft spot for Doncic because the last night she saw Kobe Bryant alive, he brought his daughter Gigi to watch Doncic play. Gigi's favorite player. She described Doncic as the saddest player she had ever seen join the Lakers, but said he has since come back with a purpose of wanting to win a championship.
Cuban told Front Office Sports recently that if there was any chance of buying the Mavericks back, he would. The Adelsons have made it clear that it won't happen. Buss just explained exactly why that matters. The trade happened in the dark because it had to. Cuban never got the chance to stop it, and now he never will.