Anthony Davis drops 1-word reaction after matching up against $7,639,302 former Lakers teammate

Anthony Davis played on Monday against the Brooklyn Nets, just his second time suiting up for the Dallas Mavericks after the Luka Doncic trade. AD contributed 12 points, six rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal in his team’s 120-101 win.

Davis had a chance to go up against Maxwell Lewis, a former teammate who arrived in Brooklyn following the Dorian Finney-Smith trade. The star big man wrote on Instagram after the game:

“Gaaaang!!”

Anthony Davis on Instagram after playing against fellow former Lakers players on Monday. [photo: @antdavis23/IG]

The LA Lakers packaged Lewis, D’Angelo Russell and second-round picks in 2027, 2030 and 2031 to the Brooklyn Nets for Finney-Smith in December. Less than two months later, the Lakers reunited DFS with Luka Doncic in Los Angeles by sending Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks. Lewis, who signed a four-year, $7.6 million deal in 2023, spent less than two years in LA before the trade.

Maxwell Lewis has seen more action since playing for the Nets. From 4.1 minutes per game in LA, he is averaging 11.0 MPG in Brooklyn and putting up 4.4 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. Lewis routinely tried to help whoever had the unenviable task of guarding Davis.

Although opponents now, the former Lakers had warm exchanges before and after the game.

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Anthony Davis still has a chance to lead the Dallas Mavericks to the play-in tournament

Without Anthony Davis and other key players, the Dallas Mavericks lost 128-113 to the New York Knicks on Tuesday. The defeat dropped the Mavs’ record to 35-38 for the No. 11 spot in the Western Conference. Dallas has the same record as the Phoenix Suns, but as Kevin Durant and Co. won the season series, the Suns own the tiebreaker.

The Mavericks still have nine games left in their schedule. After the back-to-back games in New York, they will remain East for showdowns against the Orlando Magic (Thursday) and the Chicago Bulls (Saturday).

Dallas will open April with two home games against the Brooklyn Nets and the Atlanta Hawks before back-to-back road battles with the LA Clippers. The Mavs will go home for the highly anticipated return of Luka Doncic to Dallas on Apr. 9. If Anthony Davis and Doncic are healthy, it will be the first time they will be on the floor together following the stunning trade.

Two nights after the marquee Mavericks-Lakers game, Dallas will host Toronto before flying to Memphis to cap off the season.

The Mavericks have a good chance to book a play-in tournament ticket but they need Anthony Davis to carry them to the pre-playoff round.