Hypothetical Pop Culture, Political, Hollywood Equivalents of Lopsided Luka Trade

In what has been described as the most shocking trade in the history of American sports, the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Lakers late Saturday night for Anthony Davis and a few scraps.

Because very few people watch the modern-day NBA, our goal here is to explain the significance of the trade to those unfamiliar with Doncic and Davis and why the trade has even the foremost authorities on the NBA shaking their heads in confusion.

For background, Doncic is just 25 years old. He is universally recognized as one of the three best basketball players in the world. Anthony Davis is 31 years old, frequently injured, and simply not as good as Doncic and never has been.

Make sense?

If not, here would be some equivalents to the trade in the worlds of pop culture, politics, Hollywood, and beyond:

Taylor Swift for Madonna

With all due respect to Madonna, no honest venue is booking her over Taylor Swift in 2025.

Joe Burrow for Matthew Stafford

Imagine trading a great quarterback in the NFL, who is still under 30 but with some injury concerns, for a good quarterback who is over 30, and has major injury concerns.

The Mavericks can relate.

Joe Rogan for Howard Stern

Again, Anthony David was a great player.

Blake Lively for Amber Heard

In terms of exploiting the inherently false movement of "believe all women," Blake Lively is certainly in her prime. 

The Luka Doncic of #MeToo, amirite?

Tulsi Gabbard for Liz Cheney

To be clear, Liz Cheney was never great. But the lopsidedness of the trade checks out.

Credit OutKick reader: @RottenKnee23 for the tip.

Brittney Griner for Merchant of Death

Clay Travis weighs in:

Trump for Biden

Nahh, Anthony Davis understands which half the court is for offense.

Billy Corgan for Bill Burr

In 2008, the Lakers traded Marc Gasol for his brother Pau Gasol. Just saying.

Greg Gutfeld for Jimmy Kimmel

Imagine making this trade in 2025.

The Chicago Sky ladies for Jussie Smollett 

This is MAGA country. (For more details.)

Elon Musk for Bill Gates

Okay, you get the point.

JD Vance for Mike Pence

Err, we had one more. A really good one.

The more we think about it, the less sense trading Luka makes. Rough year for Mark Cuban.

Written by
Bobby Burack is a writer for OutKick where he reports and analyzes the latest topics in media, culture, sports, and politics.. Burack has become a prominent voice in media and has been featured on several shows across OutKick and industry related podcasts and radio stations.