Kenyon Martin says Jeanie Buss’ viral A.D. comments are similar to how Mavs dissed Luka: ‘Same s—t’

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Los Angeles Lakers controlling owner Jeanie Buss recently made some interesting comments regarding former Lakers star Anthony Davis in an exclusive interview with NPR. She claimed that Davis “wasn’t happy” and that he complained about “where he was being played.”

It’s worth noting that Davis said back in the month of January when he was still a Laker that he thought Los Angeles needed another big, something that would have allowed him to spend more time at the power forward spot. During Davis’ Lakers tenure, there was often a lot of talk about having him play at the 4.

Former NBA big man Kenyon Martin compared Buss’ comments on Davis to how the Dallas Mavericks seemed to diss star Luka Doncic in light of trading him to the Lakers.

“This is my opinion,” Martin began regarding Buss’ comments. “This is not a ‘right now’ conversation for owners. She shouldn’t be making this statement right now, in my opinion. This is offseason conversation. You made the deal. You did it. It’s the same s— they (the Mavericks) did to Luka, right? Talking about he fat, out of shape, all that s—, right? It’s the same s—, just formed in a different manner. … It’s a little sweeter.”

After Doncic changed teams for the first time in his NBA career, reports surfaced indicating that the Doncic experience in Dallas wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

In one leak, The Athletic’s Sam Amick reported last month that Mavs sources who witnessed Doncic’s final days in Dallas said that he was “lazy” and that his weight issues were a “frequent frustration.” Amick’s sources also mentioned Doncic’s alleged social habits of smoking hookah and drinking beer as they painted an unsightly picture of his professionalism.

Davis might have made it clear that he preferred not to play the center spot, but playing that position must not have bothered him that much in the sense that he still starred for the Lakers during the 2024-25 season as a registered center. He averaged 25.7 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game across 42 contests with Los Angeles.

Additionally, nothing has surfaced indicating that Davis wanted to be traded out of Los Angeles.

While Doncic has played in 10 games with the Lakers thus far and seems to be getting pretty comfortable with his new team, Davis has yet to really ingratiate himself in Dallas due to injury woes. He suffered an injury in his Mavericks debut and hasn’t taken the floor since then.

Davis has yet to respond to what Buss had to say about him, and it should be interesting to find out if he will in the near future. Hopefully, he can get back on the court for the Mavericks again before the end of the season.