Shams Charania
Getty Image
It’s been more than a month since Shams Charania broke what is probably the most shocking trade in the history of the NBA when he revealed the Mavericks were sending Luka Doncic to the Lakers. It was unlikely to the point where most fans who saw the news assumed he was hacked—including hundreds of people who texted him out of concern.
The clock had just struck midnight on the East Coast on February 2nd when preeminent NBA insider Shams Charania hopped online to drop a scoop that was shocking to the point of being unbelievable: the Lakers had obtained Luka Doncic in a blockbuster trade that involved Los Angeles sending Anthony Davis back to the Mavericks.
By now, most NBA fans are familiar with the circumstances that made it hard to understand why the Mavericks would willingly part ways with the 26-year-old superstar who served as the face of the franchise, and Shams acknowledged that reality with a follow-up where he stressed it was a real, actual trade Dallas had somehow agreed to.
Yes, this is real. Sources tell ESPN: Full trade:
– Lakers: Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, Markieff Morris
– Mavericks: Anthony Davis, Max Christie, 2029 LAL 1st
– Jazz: Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2025 Clippers 2nd, 2025 Mavericks 2nd https://t.co/bltojdTaQj
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 2, 2025
Plenty of people assumed Shams had been hacked when the first tweet dropped, and the second one initially didn’t do much to debunk that belief when you consider it could have been sent by the same person who’d presumably managed to access his account and figured out a fantastic way to cause some chaos.
However, it didn’t take long for the news to be confirmed by ESPN and other insiders as the basketball world attempted to process what had transpired.
The dust has largely settled, and Shams recently got the chance to reflect on what transpired before and after he broke the news during a recent appearance on The Young Man and The Three.
“My hands were shaking” — @ShamsCharania goes in detail on how the Luka-AD trade came about with @KOT4Q, Cam Johnson & @talter. 🚨 NEW YM3 TOMORROW 🚨 pic.twitter.com/riKR26HhXI
— TheYoungManAndTheThree (@OldManAndThree) March 13, 2025
Charania says he got a tip around an hour before he broke the news and was just as incredulous as most people before he contacted five sources who confirmed it was actually happening.
He noted “my hands were shaking” as he prepared the initial tweet before the floodgates opened as skeptics who were worried his account had been compromised reached out to him, saying:
“After that, my phone was a mess. I had up to 300 text messages. I answered five people on phone calls. Texts, I couldn’t, because it was too many. Literally up to 300 messages and everyone with the same message: Did you get hacked? Check your phone. You got hacked.
Everyone had the same response. People are like ‘Are you OK? Did something happen? Who took your phone?'”
Given the circumstances, it’s pretty hard to blame them.