President Trump’s rally-style speech at the Republican National Committee midterm convention touched on oil, Iran, immigration, the economy — and the polarizing NBA trade that sent superstar guard Luka Dončić from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers last year.
“I must tell you, I don’t understand the trade. That trade is not good,” he said late Wednesday at the American Airlines Center, the Dallas Mavericks’ home arena.
The president continued: “It’s not going to go down as the greatest trade in the history of sports. It might go down as the worst trade in the history of sports,” before conceding that the Boston Red Sox’s decision to ship pitcher Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees more than a century ago likely still deserved that dubious distinction.
“Maybe we could redo that trade. I redo deals all the time. … I understand deals. But that one, I didn’t quite get,” Mr. Trump said. He then resumed talking about U.S. oil production and Iran.
In a bombshell midseason transaction early last year, the Mavericks sent Dončić and two other players to the Lakers, principally in exchange for Anthony Davis and a 2029 first-round draft pick. The trade drew consternation from many Dallas fans who were critical of the team’s decision to trade away the now-27-year-old face of the franchise.
Nam Y. Huh / AP 
The Mavericks are owned primarily by the family of Miriam Adelson, a GOP megadonor who controls the Las Vegas Sands casino company and is close with Mr. Trump.
It’s not the first time he has used the presidential bully pulpit to weigh in on a hot-button sports debate. He has repeatedly criticized the NFL’s new rules for kickoffs, and in a Truth Social post last year, he lamented the fact that quarterback Shedeur Sanders wasn’t selected in the first few rounds of the NFL draft.
“What is wrong with NFL owners, are they STUPID?” the president wrote. “He should be ‘picked’ IMMEDIATELY by a team that wants to WIN.” (Sanders, the son of former NFL player Deion Sanders, was picked up by the Cleveland Browns later in the draft.)
Over the summer, Mr. Trump asked FIFA to review its one-match suspension of star U.S. forward Folarin Balogun during the World Cup. The international soccer organization reversed the red card suspension, though Mr. Trump said he didn’t order FIFA to do so.
