Lakers governor Jeanie Buss ‘didn’t anticipate the global impact’ Doncic trade would have

Any trade in which everyone in the league reacted to the news by saying, “Shams Charania got hacked,” was going to be big.

However, one of the people on the inside — Lakers governor Jeanie Buss, who signed off on the deal — had no idea how big and how global the reaction would be to Luka Doncic’s trade to the Los Angeles Lakers. Here is what she said on the Games with Names podcast.

“I didn’t anticipate the global impact it would have. I mean, I knew it was going to be a big story in the NBA but he really is a global superstar.”

Doncic was a star in Europe and the EuroLeague MVP at 19 before ever being drafted and coming to the NBA — he is wildly popular in Europe and around the globe. Combining his brand with the Lakers’ massive brand and fan base is exponential for both sides, as it has been with LeBron James.

Buss was in the loop on this trade from the moment Lakers GM Rob Pelinka sat down at a coffee shop in Dallas with Mavericks GM Nico Harrison, who proposed the deal.

“I called Jeannie after the coffee in Dallas and brought her in immediately, as I do with everything,” Pelinka said at Doncic’s introductory press conference. “Her and I have a really strong working relationship and the fabric of that is that we share. We share things in real time. And she was extraordinarily excited and hopeful that we could get to the end, which we were able to do.”

In the interview, Buss echoed what Pelikna and others with the Lakers have said: They didn’t want to trade Anthony Davis, they weren’t looking to, but this was too good a trade to pass up. That has been evidenced on the court, where the Lakers are 9-4 since Doncic first stepped on the court with the team (that will be tested in the coming weeks with LeBron James out due to a groin strain).

Now Doncic is the Lakers’ future — and a global one at that. Even if Buss didn’t see that coming.