Donald Trump Calls Luka Dončić Trade the Worst in NBA History
The boos inside American Airlines Center didn’t come for a referee, a rival, or a replay on the big screen. They came for a trade that still hangs over Dallas like a storm cloud.
Standing on the Mavericks’ home court Wednesday night, Donald Trump took a break from politics to reopen one of the most painful wounds in recent NBA memory: the day Dallas sent Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I must tell you, I don't understand the trade,” Trump told the crowd. “That trade is... What do I know about basketball? I would say that it's not going to go down as the greatest trade in the history of sports, it might go down as the worst trade in the history of sports.”
The line landed hard. This was the very building where Dončić became a superstar, the face of a franchise that believed it finally had its long-term cornerstone. Instead, that cornerstone was shipped to Los Angeles in a three-team deal on Feb. 2, 2025, that stunned the league.
Dallas sent Dončić, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris to the Lakers. In return, the Mavericks received Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick.
Nearly everyone questioned it. Mavericks fans protested. The front office took the heat, and general manager Nico Harrison lost his job in November 2025 as the fallout continued.
The pressure finally told on the roster too. Davis’ stay in Dallas didn’t last long; he was traded to the Washington Wizards the following season, leaving the Mavericks with a fractured identity and a fan base still trying to understand how a generational playmaker ended up in purple and gold.
Dallas did catch a break in the draft lottery. The Mavericks lucked into the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and selected Cooper Flagg, the new face of a rebuild that arrived far sooner than anyone in North Texas expected. The franchise has pivoted to youth, to patience, to a long game that rarely pairs well with a restless market.
Trump wasn’t interested in the nuance. He stuck to the headline.
“That's not good. That wasn't good. Maybe we could redo that trade. I redo deals all the time. We got to redo,” he said, leaning into his dealmaker persona. “We got to redo that deal. I don't get that deal. You know some deals you understand. I understand deals, but that one I didn't quite get. Somebody from Dallas, I'm sure, can explain it to me.”
The crowd roared, part laughter, part lingering frustration. Because even as the Mavericks move forward with Flagg, Dončić’s departure still feels raw. The idea that Dallas voluntarily moved on from a player of his caliber remains almost unthinkable in NBA terms.
Trump, though, didn’t stop at calling it a contender for the worst trade ever. He had a benchmark.
He reminded the audience of the sport’s most infamous sale: the Boston Red Sox sending Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees after three World Series titles.
“You know the worst trade in the history of sports, right?” Trump asked, as the arena quieted to listen. “The great Babe Ruth. Babe Ruth (for) $100,000. At that time, that was like $10 million, I guess, because Boston needed money, so Babe will always be the worst trade. But is it Luka?”
That was the question he left hanging in the air.
Dallas, now hitching its future to Cooper Flagg and a fresh rebuild, has time to answer it. The trade that sent Dončić away may never escape comparison to Ruth, but the only thing that can soften its legacy is winning again in the building where those boos still echo.
