When Shams Charania hit send, the entire basketball world stopped.
For a few minutes, nobody believed what they were seeing. Luka Doncic was headed to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Dallas Mavericks had actually done it. Traded away a 25-year-old generational superstar. For Anthony Davis. In the middle of the season.
It was so unthinkable that even Shams, the one breaking the news, had to make one last call just to confirm he wasn’t losing his mind.
“I didn’t even say on that call—I basically was like, ‘Is this f—ing real?’” Charania recalled on The Young Man and the Three podcast. “And the person is like, ‘Yeah. Yeah, it’s real.’”
Even then, Shams admitted: “My hands were shaking.” Because there’s breaking a big NBA trade—and then there’s dropping the biggest Woj bomb that Woj never got.
NBA Twitter Thought Shams Got Hacked
The sheer magnitude of the trade was so shocking that when Shams’ tweet went live, people didn’t know how to process it. NBA Twitter immediately assumed he got hacked. His phone exploded.
“I had up to 300 text messages,” Charania revealed. “Everyone had the same message: ‘Did you get hacked? Are you OK? Who took your phone?’” (via Old Man and the Three)
Even people in NBA front offices weren’t sure what was happening. The Mavericks hadn’t even released an official statement yet. It was all pure, raw chaos.
Luka was already on a flight to Los Angeles.
What This Trade Means for the NBA
The Luka trade might go down as the most shocking deal in NBA history. Not just because of the player involved, but because of how fast it happened. There were no real leaks, no slow buildup of speculation—just boom.
Luka in purple and gold.
A month later, he’s already got the Lakers looking like a contender again. Through 13 games, he’s averaging 26.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 7.6 assists. He’s put up multiple triple-doubles and dropped 45 points on the Bucks. Meanwhile, in Dallas, Anthony Davis has barely played, and fans are still marching outside the American Airlines Center with ‘FIRE NICO’ signs.
Some trades take years to evaluate. This one feels like it was settled by Week 2.
Shams Charania’s Career-Defining Moment
For Shams, this was the career-making scoop. There have been massive trades before—LeBron to Miami, KD to Golden State, Kawhi to Toronto—but nothing quite like this.
Woj may have owned NBA breaking news for the last decade, but this? This was Shams’ signature moment. The night he officially took the throne.
And it all started with a text, a flurry of calls, and a tweet that made the entire NBA stop breathing.
“You don’t even have time to prepare for it,” Charania said. “It’s not like you make a Luka Doncic graphic beforehand. You don’t even know.” (via YouTube)
Maybe not. But when the biggest trade in NBA history dropped into his lap, he didn’t blink.
Well, except for that one moment when his hands were literally shaking.
