WHO CONTROLS THE NBA – Breaking down Mavericks Laker Trade

Garnett Broke the Bank, Kawhi Broke the Mold, Luka Broke the Illusion of Control

By: Jackie Rae

The NBA, as we now know it, has developed over time. Founded in 1946, the NBA didn’t even allow Black players until the 1950-51 season. Of course, the move was made begrudgingly, but it was a move that was not only needed but would forever elevate the game.

While many fans point fingers at the WNBA for not operating in the black — they forget that the W has only been around for 29 years. While some teams in the NBA were profitable in 1975, the league as a whole was not.

Of course, big names like 11-time NBA Champion and legend Bill Russell, along with the first Black players to be named All-Stars, Don Barksdale and Ray Felix, elevated the game and brought in new fans, viewership, and revenue. 

Although Black and white players were not judged equally or just by their level of play, they did share one commonality: They were not in control of their own destiny. 

A prime example is Michael Jordan. During his documentary The Last Dance, Jordan expressed his frustration with the demise of the Chicago Bulls, who had won six titles by 1998.

Jordan believed the team had a real shot at a seventh title if they had stayed together. But GM Jerry Krause’s decision not to retain Phil Jackson as head coach signaled the end of an era—one that Jordan still struggles to accept, cut short before its time.

Even the words from Michael Jordan, the league’s golden boy in 1998, couldn’t force Krause’s hand.

And thus, the lay of the land was set. No matter how much revenue a player brought to a team, they simply could not call the shots. That is until Kevin Garnett.

21-year-old Kevin “The Big Ticket” Garnett secured a historic max six-year contract worth 126 million dollars that not only changed the landscape for players but literally broke the NBA.

Garnett’s deal was the straw that broke the owners’ back. Alonzo Mourning and Juwan Howard each signed deals for $105 million the prior offseason, while the Los Angeles Lakers secured Shaquille O’Neal with a $120 million offer.

If you can’t read between the lines, allow me to assist. In what world would owners want a bunch of 20-something Black kids becoming multi-millionaires just by playing basketball? 

In a league composed of only white owners, it was just a matter of time before a significant push-back occurred. And it did. Owners wanted to limit players’ salaries and implement a max-contract policy. Their stance resulted in the 1998-99 lockout. 

The max salary policy is still in effect in the NBA, though you would hardly know it. Now, players can earn a percentage of the salary cap based on their years of play. 

It’s a policy that is in place to make sure the owners have control. To that effect, it has failed. The NBA is an entertainment entity that wants to ensure it continues to make huge dividends. To do that, you need big talents. To lock in big talents, you not only have to pay big dollars, you have to acquiesce to their requests.

We’ve seen it time and time again. Take Kawhi Leonard; he demanded a trade from the Spurs in 2018 and even included a destination demand. He wanted to return to his hometown of Los Angeles and play with the Lakers.

Instead, he was shipped off to the Toronto Raptors, who won the NBA Title that season. There was no reason that the Raptors couldn’t run it back in 2020 if they had remained whole. But for Kawhi, it wasn’t about running it back. It was about making sure his hometown wish was granted. The following season, he returned home to play with the LA Clippers.

So why does any of this matter? Because the control owners have over the players on their team is limited. If LeBron wants to play until he is 50, Jeanie Buss can’t tell him no. If she does, she will lose out on another 10 years of “I want to see this in real life” fan revenue. 

If Kevin Durant barks and wants to leave the Golden State Warriors to go to the Brooklyn Nets — then complains again until he gets to the Phoenix Suns, as an owner, do you hold him hostage? No, because players will inevitably become a distraction if they don’t get what they want.

So, what is the best way to remind larger-than-life diva players that the owners call the shots? You trade away the extremely happy-go-lucky, great teammate who may have a weight problem in the middle of the night. And you tell no one until the deal is done. 

For the Dallas Mavericks, trading Luka Dončić seems like a petty and vindictive move from which the Los Angeles Lakers greatly benefited.

I would bet my last dollar that every major star in the NBA looked at that trade and saw the obvious — owners around the league are not only fed up with the diva attitudes, they are likely sitting in their offices and blasting the 1992 Ice Cube classic Check Yo Self. Because now, players around the league know that inflated egos are bad for their health.

OPP: Oligarchs, Pawns and Power

THE DONČIĆ DECLARATION: A MANIFESTO FOR THE REVOLUTIONARY FAN

By: Eric Lambkins II

The NBA has always flirted with power imbalance. Kevin Garnett’s $126 million deal once terrified owners into a lockout. Kawhi Leonard forced his way to L.A., proving stars could dictate terms. But Luka’s trade flips that script. It’s a reminder: no matter how many points you drop, you’re still not calling the shots.

They control the teams. They control the narrative. They control the laws. Luka Dončić’s trade isn’t just a basketball story—it’s a capitalist sermon preached from the altar of greed.

When the Dallas Mavericks shipped off their generational star, it wasn’t about basketball. It was about power. It was about billionaires, like the Adelson family, reminding us who really runs the show.

Dončić, 25, wanted to stay. He bought a home. Talked legacy. Loyalty. But that meant nothing when the spreadsheets started talking louder than the stats. The Adelsons didn’t buy the Mavericks to win titles—they bought them to flip the franchise into a gambling goldmine.

When Texas refused to legalize gambling, Miriam Adelson’s son-in-law and team “governor” Patrick Dumont didn’t lobby. He leveraged. Luka became a bargaining chip, a sacrificial lamb in a corporate pivot to Las Vegas. The trade for injury-prone Anthony Davis wasn’t basketball logic—it was pure business.

Mark Cuban, a billionaire himself, tried to intervene. He was ignored. Fans protested. Memes flew. Southwest Airlines joked: “It’s not like we traded Luka…” But the Adelsons? Unbothered. This isn’t sport. It’s sportswashing. Cities become collateral. Players become assets. Fans? Just reliable addicts fueling the machine.

Players are not the ruling class. They’re high-paid laborers in a rigged system. Luka’s $345 million? Pocket change to the Adelsons’ billions. Players may live like royalty, but their thrones are rented. One injury, one trade, and it all crumbles.

The real proletariat? The fans. We fund this. We buy the jerseys. We scream at the screens. We act like we matter. But in this neoliberal league, we’re just customers in a system that sells loyalty and bleeds legacy.

And still—we watch. Because fandom is addiction. The NBA knows this. They know we’ll return for the next highlight, the next dunk, the next illusion that this time will be different.

But imagine if we didn’t. No viewers. No jerseys. Empty arenas. Silent broadcasts. Starving the beast is the only power we have. It’s unlikely, sure. We’re too divided. Too hooked. Too hopeful.

But just imagine. Because Marx wasn’t wrong: the opium of the people isn’t religion anymore. It’s sports.

And the ball is in our court.

The Trade Heard Round the World (The Luka Dončić trade)  

By: Mykell Mathieu  

In the NBA, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, and other high-profile players once represented the small circle of empowered players. 

Teams and fans have had their fair share of complaints about players forcing trades,  sitting out, and doing other things to ensure a trade. One power move may have reset that entire system.  

That narrative was flipped upside down overnight when the Los Angeles Lakers acquired superstar Luka Dončić from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for star forward Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a future first-round pick. 

It was one of the most shocking trades in NBA or even sports history. 

To see a player as talented, as young, and as great as Dončić being traded, especially in this era of basketball, is insane. This era of basketball has been defined by player empowerment, starting with LeBron James’ “Decision” in 2010. 

We have seen star players in the last 15 years ask for trades and leave the teams that drafted them through free agency.  So yes. The NBA is truly a players league. Seeing a move like the AD-Luka trade has many questions: Are organizations taking back control? The answer may be yes! 

Nico Harrison, the current president of basketball operations and general manager of the Dallas Mavericks, and Rob Pelinka, the current general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers, made this move without anyone’s knowledge. 

The two GMs came together to make a move they felt would impact their teams for the better. They made an executive decision without conversation with their stars or other players on the roster.

Privately and publicly, Harrison has said he moved Dončić for Davis because he felt it gave Dallas the best chance at raising the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Harrison believes that Davis is a better cultural fit for what the Mavericks want to build. 

If this is the new norm, it’s the way things should be. Players should focus on playing while the executives and GMs focus on roster building. 

Of course, asking for some input from a star player can help find the right chemistry with a potential teammate, but allowing them to “make the decisions”  may be done after this big trade.

We will see how this trade will impact the Lakers, Mavericks, and the rest of the NBA, but as of right now, the message has been received loud and clear.