The NBA world has been shaken up since the Dallas Mavericks traded international superstar Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers in a three-team deal that also involved the Utah Jazz in February 2025. However, Dončić’s recent injury couldn’t have hit at a worse time — likely killing hi s MVP chances — as minority owner Mark Cuban, who long served as the public face of the Mavs and previously defended Dončić’s lifestyle amidst injury concerns, finally breaks his silence and steps into the fallout. Former Mavericks majority owner opens up about blockbuster trade that sent Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers. (Photos: Intersections Podcast/YouTube; David Berding/Getty Images) ‘How Dare He Say That’: Mark Cuban’s Business Advice Sparks Outrage as He Tells Black Businesswomen ‘Not to Look for Funding’ Dončić, 27, suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain during last week’s 139-96 loss against Oklahoma City, which is expected to keep him on the bench for three to six weeks, with one week left in the NBA regular season. Dončić had been unstoppable for the Lakers, leading a 15–2 March with 37.5 points, 8 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 2.3 steals per game. He earned Western Conference Player of the Month — and a rare Defensive Player nod, despite critics doubting his defense. The Slovenian leads the NBA with 33.8 points per game and ranks top five in assists. The Lakers (50–27) have clinched a 2026 postseason berth, while the Mavs (24–52) are out. Drafted third overall in 2018, he became a perennial All-Star after the draft-night swap that sent No. 5 pick Trae Young to Atlanta, which had selected Dončić. So when Dallas decided to shift the 2019 Rookie of the Year award winner to L.A. for Anthony “AD” Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick, many basketball fans called foul as conspiracy theories claiming the league purposely enhanced the Lakers ran rampant online. Cuban, the former Mavs majority owner, is now providing some behind-the-scenes details about the Texas franchise handing over a generational player to a LeBron James-led team in the same conference.  The billionaire entrepreneur sold the controlling interest in the Mavericks to the family of Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont in December 2023 when Dončić was still on the roster. Cuban still maintains a 27 percent stake but has admitted having some remorse about giving up ownership control. “I don’t regret selling,” Cuban said in an episode of the “Intersections” podcast released on March 31, before adding, “I regret who I sold to. I made a lot of mistakes in the process, and I’ll leave it at that.” BREAKING: The Dallas Mavericks are trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Three-team deal that includes Utah.— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 2, 2025 The “Shark Tank” reality show panelist also revealed how he learned about Dončić, who is widely considered one of the best basketball players on the planet, being sent to the Lakers in what many NBA pundits considered a lopsided deal for the 2012 No. 1 overall pick Davis. According to Cuban, he was at a conference in Florida when he got a call from then-Mavs general manager Nico Harrison, who informed him that Dončić was being sent to L.A. in exchange for the oft-injured Davis, 33. The franchise fired Harrison in November. Cuban went on to imply that friction between the GM and members of Dončić’s entourage may have played a role in the Slovenian national leaving Dallas. Mavs head coach Jason Kidd also caught a stray during the conversation. “Jay Kidd had coached with Anthony Davis and was close to him, and Nico was close to AD, since he was, like, 13 years old. And so I think …  You talk about confirmation bias, there was some of that as well,” Cuban stated. Cuban continued his open criticism of Kidd, 53, and Harrison, 53, by also saying, “But, you know, that doesn’t justify it for our coach and our general manager to stand up and trade our best player.” Kidd was hired by Cuban in 2021 to coach the Mavericks after helping the organization win an NBA championship a decade earlier as the team’s point guard. The Basketball Hall of Famer got wind of his longtime boss’s recent remarks and responded via the press. “When are we going to move on?” Kidd rhetorically asked a reporter during a pregame interview in Milwaukee on March 31. “We have to move forward. We’re focused on the present and the future, and we’ve got an incredible opportunity to build.” The back-and-forth between Cuban and Kidd sparked heated discourse on social media, with sports watchers weighing in on who was winning the blame game to crown the actual fall guy for the Mavs trading away an MVP candidate, a trade that certainly would’ve had to be approved by the Mavs’ new majority owners. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Intersections (@intersectionsthepodcast) “Grief doesn’t have a deadline,” one Instagram user argued in response to Kidd wanting Cuban and Dallas supporters to get over Dončić no longer wearing a Mavericks jersey. A second person demanded, “I want J. Kidd fired.” A third wrote, “Worst trade in the history of the NBA and you think it’s gonna fade into irrelevance in one season.” One reply to that comment read, “Worst trade possibly in the history of sports.” Yet another commenter offered a possible scenario of when Kidd and the Mavs front office will be able to live down losing Luka for little in return by suggesting, “When you make it to the finals again.” A less-optimistic poster predicted, “Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll EVER move on.” An even more doubtful Mavs devotee declared, “Genuinely ruined an entire fanbase. I feel bad for the players. I was a superfan, and I will tell you the vibes are absolutely gone. I wouldn’t even care if the team relocated. It’s that bad.” ‘Worst Trade In History’: Mavs’ Mark Cuban Regrets Selling Majority Stake to Controversial Investor a Year After Luka Dončić Swap ...read more read less