Anthony Davis opens up about shock of trade, playing in Dallas: 'Family is happy. Everybody is happy.'
Anthony Davis pushed to get back on the court in Dallas. From the outside, there were a lot of calls to shut him down, especially with Kyrie Irving out for the season with a torn ACL — why not tank, try and get a better draft seeding and hope for another Dereck Lively II-style pick up? — but Davis wanted to be back on the court.
AD opened up about that, the trade, life in Dallas and much more in a must-read interview with him by Mark Spears of ESPN's Andscape.
We were playing with six, seven, eight guys who were coming in after playing a game 40, 42 minutes drained, tired, having to play back-to-backs, having to come in and still [weight] lift and get their shots [up]. That was a motivator for me. I knew I was going [to come back] just because of the amount of games we had left. And not even that, just the position we were in, too.
The Mavericks have a one-game lead over the Suns for the No. 10 seed with eight games to play. Dallas also has an easier schedule the rest of the way. The postseason is within reach.
Of course, Davis is in Dallas as part of the shocking trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers. Davis, like everyone, did not see this trade coming, but adds that he is happy in Dallas.
'I'm great. I don't feel it, but a lot of people have been coming to me and telling me they haven't seen me smile like this in a long time,' Davis told Andscape. 'Family is happy. Everybody is happy. It's the nature of the business. Obviously, the first maybe 48 hours, it was just a shock because I wasn't expecting it. Nobody was expecting it, so they say. But I know from my side, my team and my family and everybody who works with me, I wasn't expecting it. Even when I was getting some of the calls [about the trade], I thought guys were playing. But it ended up being true and that first initial [emotion] was more a shock just seeing the position [we were in]; we're in fifth in the West [Conference], we were rolling…
'And I wasn't playing [Davis was injured at the time of the trade]. So, I just tried to feel everybody out and just kind of let it happen organically. And now we got a super-tight bond, man with all the guys. So, I'm happy, man. Happy I get to play.'
Davis does get to play — in his time on the court in Dallas you can see how his gravity opens up the court for others. The Mavericks are 2-0 in the games where AD has taken the court since his return, and they are in a good position to hold on to the No. 10 seed.
That is not enough to calm the storm among Mavericks fans after the trade, but being on the court and helping his team win is all Davis can do — and he's happy to do it. He's happy in Dallas, wherever that road ultimately leads.
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