LeBron James Salutes Anthony Davis After Lakers-Mavs Trade: 'Love You My Dog!!'

LeBron James and Anthony Davis' five-and-a-half-year run together has come to an end.

The Los Angeles Lakers traded Davis to the Dallas Mavericks in a blockbuster deal that landed them Luka Dončić.

After the trade, James showed love to Davis with a message on social media.

"Love you my dog!! Go crazy over there!" he wrote on Instagram.

Davis arrived in Los Angeles from the New Orleans Pelicans in the summer of 2019 in a blockbuster trade featuring Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and a slew of first-round picks.

In his first year with the Lakers and James, Los Angeles won a championship in the NBA bubble during the COVID-19-shortened season.

From there, Davis, James and the Lakers never had the same level of success. They reached the Western Conference Finals in 2023, but had a pair of first-round exits and missed the playoffs entirely in 2022.

Still, Davis and James had a special bond and were at least in the mix for competing for a championship when on the same team.

James has had a voice in past Lakers trades but reportedly wasn't involved in the deal that sent Davis to the Mavs. ESPN's Dave McMenamin reported that James found out about the trade while at dinner with his family following the Lakers' matchup against the New York Knicks. According to McMenamin, James was "surprised by the news" and "had no idea it was in the works."

It will likely take James a while to get adjusted to not having Davis on the court, but the good news is he'll now get to play alongside a generational talent. Dončić, already a five-time All-Star and five-time member of the All-NBA First Team, is just 25 years old and seemingly only at the beginning of his prime.

The Lakers have some work to do to become a championship contender, namely getting some rim protection, but pairing James and Dončić automatically makes them a team to watch coming out of the West.