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Dallas Mavericks star Anthony Davis.

The Los Angeles Lakers are nearing their first game playing Anthony Davis as an opponent in over half a decade. Davis was one of the faces of the team for several years and helped bring them a championship.

There was no talk about the Lakers trading him until the Dallas Mavericks offered up Luka Doncic, which was a deal no team would’ve said no to. While Doncic is a younger and better player than Davis, none of the Lakers players could’ve seen this coming.

According to guard Austin Reaves, he didn’t believe Davis when he texted the team group chat.

“First thing, I was like, ‘Oh this is [false],” Reaves told ESPN. “‘He got hacked.’”

In fact, none of the players were buying into the news.

“The group message started going crazy,” he said. “AD, texting the [team] group message, was like, ‘They traded me.’ And I was like, ‘OK, AD is (expletive) with us.’ He’s a kid at heart, had his fun. He literally has a prank TV show. I thought it was one of those.”

This was how most of the NBA world reacted when ESPN’s Shams Charania first reported the news. However, the trade was very real and the rest is history.

Reaves Just Wants to Win

Losing Davis was tough for the Lakers. He was very important to the team and was one of their leaders, but getting a player like Doncic makes it a lot easier to get over.

The Lakers went from being a fringe playoff team to being among the favorites to win the championship. As long the team is winning, Reaves is happy.

“I just want to win and I feel like anytime I’m on the court versus off the court, I have a belief I literally can change the game,” Reaves told ESPN.

LeBron James Anchoring Lakers Defense With Davis Gone

The biggest loss with the Lakers trading Davis is that they wouldn’t have their best defensive player anymore. This has led LeBron James to step up on defense over the last couple of months.

He has helped set the tone for the team defensively.

“Obviously my voice and being able to command and let guys know what’s going on behind them,” James said. “And also, just called out the keys. On the defensive end, I’m able to see a lot of plays before the plays happen because of my knowledge of the game, my knowledge of my opponents, my knowledge of the team and what they want to do. Being able to just let guys know what’s going on behind them, let them know what’s coming before it happens so we can always keep our head on a swivel, we can always be kind of one step ahead. I understand that’s my responsibility to anchor the defense, and I’m happy to do that.”

The Lakers offense is arguably the best in the NBA when it’s firing on all cylinders. What’s been really impressive is how well the defense is playing. If that continues into the playoffs, Los Angeles is going to be hard to beat.