At the start of this year, a blockbuster trade between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks shocked the NBA, sending Luka Doncic to Los Angeles and bringing Anthony Davis to Dallas. The move was met with outrage from Mavericks fans, who felt their postseason and championship hopes had been stripped away.
And indeed, Dallas failed to achieve either of those goals in 2025. However, the franchise did secure the No. 1 pick in the draft, selecting highly touted prospect Cooper Flagg, who has been heralded as a potential heir to LeBron James. With this roster rebuild, the Mavericks are betting heavily on young talent while surrounding it with experienced players like Davis.
Anthony Davis’s complaints against the Lakers
Since his arrival in Dallas, Davis has shown he still possesses the power and presence to be a vital piece of his team. In preseason games leading into the 2025-26 NBA season, his contributions have already stood out.
Yet the trade that swapped Davis and Doncic appears to have left the big man with lingering frustrations. In recent comments, Davis expressed that the Lakers overused his body, leading directly to the series of injuries that have marked his career.
From Davis’s perspective, Los Angeles demanded he play center far too often, something he believes inflicted significant damage on his sacred temple, his body.
I played five. And my thing was never about five or four or anything like that. It was about just playing a five the entire game, for the entire season, just a little bit more wear and tear on your body,
Said the former Lakers star, now anchoring the Mavericks.
Davis also clarified that during his time in Los Angeles he was comfortable playing as a forward, noting:
I was always the four. So it was just different for me playing the five, and I just felt like I was better at the four.
Now with Dallas, Davis will return to his preferred position as a power forward. The Mavericks clearly value his skill set in that role and intend to maximize his strengths by keeping him where he feels most effective.
A significant improvement in Davis’s physical shape
During preseason action, Davis has appeared noticeably bulkier, a change that should provide him more strength against opponents who are likewise fine-tuning their squads for opening night.
Despite the setback of losing star guard Kyrie Irving to injury, Davis remains confident that Dallas has the tools to succeed.
We’re a very athletic team. We’ve got a bunch of tall guys. If we’re able to play defense with intensity, no one should be able to score in our paint.
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