Instagram I @lukadoncic

IT’S BEEN CALLED the biggest trade in NBA history. In case you’ve been living under a rock, or in a separate reality dictated by your algorithm (more on that later), last Sunday, the Dallas Mavericks inexplicably traded 25-year-old Slovenian superstar Luka Dončić to the LA Lakers, in exchange for center Anthony Davis – and not much else.

For hoops fans, and indeed, even casual sports fans, it was one of those where-were-you-when-you-heard news events. I will always remember, as I was at an NBL game at Qudos Bank Arena, in Sydney, when I got wind of the trade. A TV announcer, who had just done his live cross, made eye contact with me and said: “Luka got traded”.

“What,” I replied, dumbstruck, while kind of flattered that a TV presenter was talking to me.

The presenter repeated the news. “Luka got traded. Everyone’s freaking out”.

I immediately looked at my phone to confirm the news and then started pinging friends on WhatsApp with breathless texts to the tune of: have you heard? On the way to the train station, I saw a young fan ahead of me with an instantly retro Anthony Davis Lakers singlet. Without thinking about it too much, I grabbed my phone and took a photo, egged on by some teenagers who were behind me on the escalator. I posted on my insta stories with the caption “Vintage jersey” and immediately my phone started dinging with laughing emojis. It was thrilling to be part of the moment, as it unfolded, in real time.

The fallout of the trade has been virtually unprecedented in NBA circles, dominating podcasts and sports talk shows in the US, even managing to drown out discussion about this weekend’s Superbowl, a rare feat indeed.

By Monday, when the news was the no.1 trending story on Google, the content harvesters had swung into action, with memes cascading across social feeds. There were videos of fellow NBA players reacting to the news as it happened, guys at a wedding in Dallas pausing proceedings to jump on their phones, stories about exes sliding into DMs with Luka-related breadcrumbs and experts poring over Dončić’s body language as he was interviewed about his reaction to the trade.

The NBA trade deadline expired on Thursday 3pm US time (10am today AEST), and more trades have followed – Jimmy Butler to the Warriors, DeAaron Fox to the Spurs to join Wemby, among the more notable – but all paled in comparison to the Luka trade.

FOR CONTEXT, trading the Slovenian superstar is the equivalent of Penrith sending Nathan Cleary to Brisbane four years ago, before the Panthers’ premiership run. It’s like trading 2016 Dustin Martin from Richmond. And for a basketball precedent, it’s like offering 1989 Michael Jordan to the Lakers in exchange for James Worthy. You just wouldn’t do it.

The sheer improbability of the trade is one reason it sent hoops fans into a frenzy. Dončić has enjoyed one of the best starts to a career in NBA history, with five All-NBA First-Team nods in his first seven years in the league, more than Steph Curry has managed his entire career.

Secondly, the trade was a complete shock – ESPN reporter Shams Charania had to retweet “This is real”, after initial suspicions he had been hacked. Aside from the two general managers involved, the Lakers’ Rob Pelinka and the Mavericks’ Nico Harrison, no one else knew about the trade, not even, it’s said, LeBron James, who now gets to mentor his heir apparent – it’s going to be fascinating to watch how that plays out on the court (see below).

The unlikeliness of the trade inevitably opened the door to conspiracy theories, the most widespread being that with falling TV ratings (an outdated metric for fans who largely follow on social, but anyway) the NBA needed to shore up the Lakers, the league’s biggest team and largest media market. By facilitating the Dončić trade, the theory goes, they’ve secured the team’s future and installed Luka as the face of both the franchise and the league, once LeBron finally retires.

So, it’s been quite the week for hoops fans, but not exclusively so. The news has spilled over into the wider cultural milieu – the Betoota Advocate even did a couple of posts on it, a reliable indicator a story is penetrating beyond its dedicated fanbase into the mainstream. My brother, who is not a hoops fan, called me up during the week to discuss the trade and its implications.

But while, for me at least, the news was probably the biggest story since the first assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life last August – I was at a trampoline park when news of that broke – such is the siloed nature of the digital landscape these days, that for others, it barely registered. A work colleague professed that the trade had evaded her algorithm, which is frankly stupefying to someone like me, who has drowned under a deluge of content this week.

That revelation led me to question what my algorithm might have missed this week, as I tunnelled down in my Luka-sized digital dungeon. Perhaps I’ve missed out on fully participating in other pop-cultural news and events. I did get some Grammys content, but Luka largely bounced Kendrick from my feed – perhaps he’ll do a diss track in retaliation.

This is, of course, a largely benign consequence of living in a digital, algorithm-led world. The more sinister repercussion is the formation of digital echo chambers where, without access to a plurality of content and diversity of opinion, we become a slave to our own biases – Jordan is the GOAT, for example.

Part of me enjoyed the IYKYK-nature of the Luka trade experience – as I said, I did get a kick out of the presenter sharing the news, had fun posting that Davis singlet pic and enjoyed laughing along with those random teenagers, the three of us sharing a collective moment in an otherwise fragmented world. The subsequent memes have been fun; as always, the internet remains undefeated.

But it’s perhaps worth questioning what we were getting so excited about. On paper, at least, this was a business transaction that occurred in a faraway land involving multi-millionaires who’ll be fine, regardless of which city they play in, or jersey they wear. It seems like an unsuitable target for hysteria and excitement and probably is, at best, a distraction – from work, family, responsibility, boredom and anxiety.

That may be so, but I would argue that we need distractions, at least harmless ones, particularly if they have the power to unite us with our fellow, random, atomised–by–algorithm citizens. For a few thrilling moments on Sunday, it was fun to be part of something that had the capacity to bring people – a few of us, anyway – together.

Who is Luka Dončić?

The 25-year-old Slovenian is widely regarded as one of the best basketballers in the world, with five All-NBA First Team selections in his first seven years in the league. He led the NBA in scoring last year with 34 points per game, along with 10 rebounds and 9 assists per game – NBA2K-level stats. Dončić also took the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA finals, where they lost in five games to the Boston Celtics.

Why would the Dallas Mavericks trade Luka Dončić?

Your guess is as good as ours. Dallas has made reference to Dončić’s lack of conditioning and unwillingness to get in shape. He’s been out of action for the last month with a calf strain, his third in the last year or so and reportedly ballooned out to 122 kg while sitting on the bench. His lack of conditioning means that while he is an offensive wizard, he’s often so spent on that end of the court that he becomes a traffic cone on defence. Dončić was hunted by the Celtics throughout last year’s finals. It’s possible the Mavericks were worried that Dončić could become the next Zion Williamson, or Joel Embiid – talented players who don’t look after their bodies and are often prone to injury.

Why is the Luka Dončić trade so controversial?

The trade is controversial because Dončić is only 25 and seen as the heir apparent to LeBron James as the face of the NBA. The trade is also viewed as lopsided, as Davis, while a top 10 player himself when healthy, is six years older than Dončić and has a long injury history. Mavericks fans and media pundits are incredulous that the Mavs only got Davis, Max Christie and a first-round pick in exchange for Dončić, when players who are far less accomplished have garnered much bigger returns.

Can Luka Dončić and LeBron James play together?

Good question. There are two schools of thoughts on this. On one hand, there is concern that as sublime playmakers who both need the ball, the two players cancel each other out. On the other hand, LeBron and Luka are two of the smartest players ever to play the game and should be able to figure it out. For it to work, though, either LeBron or Luka is going to have to play second fiddle – at 40 years of age, that should be LeBron, but it’s something we’ve never seen before.

Who is Nico Harrison?

A man in the hot seat! Harrison is a former Nike executive who had a lot do with Kobe Bryant, which could explain why he prioritises work ethic and found Luka to be frustrating. Needless to say, the Mavs GM has made a bet against the talent and potential of Luka Dončić, not an enviable place to be.

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