It was an emotional night for Anthony Davis as he entered the Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday for the first time since the blockbuster trade to Dallas. Sure enough, he received a hero’s welcome from his former team as a tribute video played on the jumbotron, highlighting the best moments from his nearly six-year tenure in LA, with the message “Thank you, AD!” Although sidelined because of his adductor injury, ‘The Brow’ soaked in all the love from his former teammates and the entire Laker Nation. But the heartwarming reunion didn’t stop him from addressing the elephant in the room!

When asked about his feelings on Rob Pelinka’s decision of trading him out of the blue, Davis understood it was the nature of the business, “They wanted who they wanted. They did what they had to do.” It was only two years ago that AD inked a three-year $186 million extension with the Lakers, hoping to become the pillar of the franchise for the foreseeable future. Even Pelinka shared the same vision. Until the opportunity to acquire Luka Doncic came along.

AD continued, “I don’t know if they had to, but it’s what they wanted to do. I moved on. I got a wife and kids to worry about, you know what I’m saying? And I’m figuring out how I’m going to get them to Dallas and get adjusted to that.” Yes, Davis is not holding any grudges despite the Lakers’ betrayal and his focus now is on building a new life in Dallas with his loving family. However, he continues to have his doubts about who knew of the trade before it went down.

While he got the news from Pelinka, AD didn’t fully trust anyone in the front office. “Obviously, I know there are going to be a lot of political things in the front office when they talk to me. The front office has to do what it has to do and obviously they’re going to do what’s best for the organization. So, I don’t know if I ever got the ‘real’ about any of it. I don’t know what’s true or what’s not, coming from upstairs,” Davis honestly shared his take on it all.

So, hoping to get some inside information, he FaceTimed his longtime partner and friend, LeBron James. “When it happened, I honestly didn’t know s—… He’s been my running mate for six years… so the first thing I wanted to do was call him… So, my thing is. ‘I’m gonna go to my counterpart who I’ve been running with and see what’s going on, get his reaction.’ And that’s all it was. We had a conversation. That was it.”

Unfortunately, the conversation didn’t help much because the trade came as a huge shock to LBJ, just like everyone else.

Shocking Anthony Davis trade had LeBron James’ “Emotions all over the place”

Although LeBron has been accused of playing the GM role throughout his career, surprisingly, he too had no idea that Pelinka was going to trade AD. Reacting to the shocking move, he said earlier this month, “My emotions were all over the place. The first time I heard it, I thought it was for sure fake. I thought it was a hoax. People messing around or whatever… Pretty much didn’t seem real until I saw Luka today, and then I saw the clip of AD at the Dallas shootaround. That’s when it finally hit me, like, ‘This is real.’”

Not sure if Davis truly believes LBJ’s statement because he told the Los Angeles Times, “Everybody’s saying nobody knew and all this other s—. I just don’t believe it.”

But the forward realizes that it’s better to move on than getting stuck on the past: “Hey man, I’m past that. I’m ready to move forward with Dallas, try to get a championship there with these guys. First off, getting back on the floor and get ready to compete. All the emotions, that s— lasted that night when it was just a shock.”

Yes, AD’s current focus is to get his family adjusted in Dallas, and recover soon so that he can return to the lineup and help the Mavs make a playoff push. As of now, they are struggling because of their injury woes. But once healthy, they can become a legitimate threat in the West with Davis and Kyrie Irving as their two leaders.