Even after a year in Dallas, the sting of his departure from Los Angeles remains fresh for Anthony Davis. The star big man recently opened up about the Lakers' handling of the blockbuster trade that sent him to the Mavericks for Luka Dončić, expressing deep disappointment in how the franchise treated a player who helped deliver a championship.

Appearing on Draymond Green's podcast, Davis revealed he was completely blindsided by the deal. "I had no idea this was happening," Davis said. "And I couldn’t make sense of it. … From a business standpoint, I can’t be mad. But why? It just caught me off guard."

His frustration centers on a perceived lack of respect from the organization he served for six seasons. "I still think I deserved much more respect than that," Davis added. "All the time I’ve been here. S—, I was there six years. We won a championship. All this stuff, and I can’t get a phone call or a text of, ‘This is what we’re thinking.’"

This candid reflection highlights the often-unforgiving business side of the NBA, where even franchise cornerstones can find themselves on the move with little warning. For Davis, the move has worked out, slotting in perfectly alongside Kyrie Irving in Dallas, but the memory of how it began clearly lingers.