Don't pinch yourself, it really happened. The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers agreed terms on one of the most shocking trades in NBA history late on Saturday night.
The deal saw the Mavericks acquire 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis, along with Max Christie and the Lakers' 2029 first round pick, and send out their 25-year-old franchise centrepiece Luka Doncic, with Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris included for salary and roster purposes.
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The five-time All-NBA first team selection is a perennial MVP favourite, averaging an eye-popping 28-8-8 for his career in the Mavs, with the trade so stunning that a number of fans and media members speculated that news-breaker Shams Charania's Twitter account had been hacked.
While news of the trade was sinking in, some NASCAR fans made a spirited attempt to link the story to the Cup Series, harkening back to the time that 23XI driver Tyler Reddick raced with a Doncic-inspired paint job.
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Michael Jordan’s @NASCAR team, @23XIRacing, has unveiled a new Luka Doncic-inspired racecar for this week’s race at Texas Motor Speedway 🤠🏁 pic.twitter.com/leYGO7L4NX
— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) September 20, 2023
Why did Tyler Reddick have a Luka Doncic car?
That happened back in September 2023, when Reddick and the rest of the grid visited the Mavericks' state for a playoff race at the Texas Motor Speedway.
The move was timed to promote his upcoming Jordan Luka 2 'Trickshot' sneaker, with that shoe's colorway transplanted onto Reddick's #45 car.
While 23XI team owner Michael Jordan never had a connection with the Mavericks in his playing career or his Charlotte Hornets ownership tenure, he is – obviously – incredibly invested in his shoe brand doing well, hence the link-up.
Unfortunately, the color scheme didn't prove especially lucky for Reddick. He picked up 10 crucial points for winning the first stage of the race that day, but fell all the way down to a disappointing 25th.
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