“LeBron James thought it was a joke”: Flau'jae Johnson gives her 2 cents on Lakers legend’s shock about Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade

Flau'jae Johnson chimed in on the biggest trade of this year: Luka Doncic's trade to the LA Lakers. On Thursday's episode of her podcast 'Best of Both Worlds with Flau'jae,' the LSU guard discussed the trade and Lakers star LeBron James' reaction to it.

"LeBron James thought it was a joke," Johnson said (36:37). "They say LeBron didn't know. I believe LeBron didn't know. I just don't think LeBron knew about the trade, I don't see it happening. AD (Anthony Davis) was just buying a house in LA, Luka (Doncic) was just buying a house in Dallas and they both get traded. NBA is brutal man."

Doncic was projected to be the face of the Dallas Mavericks in the long run but his stay was cut short in an unexpected deal. The entire deal was done in secret as the Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka revealed that he had specifically asked Dallas GM Nico Harrison to keep things under wraps to avoid public and media outcry.

With Luka Doncic now in LA, the Slovenian star has the opportunity to play alongside LeBron James and possibly take over when he retires. The guard is currently recovering from a calf strain but is set to make his debut in Purple and Gold on Monday against the Utah Jazz at the Crypto.com Arena.

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Flau'jae Johnson sums up her experience playing under LSU coach Kim Mulkey

Flau'jae Johnson is playing in her third year at LSU with coach Kim Mulkey. With time, the guard has been able to build a strong bond with the coach. When speaking with New York Post Sports on Wednesday, Johnson was asked to describe what it's like playing under Mulkey.

"Intense. It's intense," she said. "But Coach Mulkey, she really just loves to win. And she really cares about her players. And I don't know, she kind of gives us that confidence in order to be ourselves.

"Like, she always tells us, 'If you want to tell after an and-one, yell after an and-one. If you want to turn up, don't ever let nobody take that from you.' So we kind of get that from our coach."

After winning the 2023 national championship, Flau'jae Johnson and the Tigers made the trip to Elite Eight and will be hoping to build on it this season. They have a 24-1 overall record (9-1 SEC) after the 71-60 win over Missouri on Thursday night.