ESPN just confirmed Luka Doncic's Mavericks trade suspicions were right

The Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic trade is one of the craziest moves in sports history, and ESPN just exposed one of the most up-in-the-air parts about this entire saga. There are tons of conspiracy theories about this move, and one of the biggest doubts from fans is that Nico Harrison acted alone when kicking Doncic to the curb.

The morning after the trade, Jason Kidd said that Harrison didn't let him know about the trade until right before it happened. Early reports indicated that Harrison acted in silence, and Kidd was shocked and even resented Harrison for making this deal.

Over a year later, fans have had a hunch that Kidd wasn't backstabbed by the trade, or at least knew about it, for a while now. Doncic makes an effort to never speak with Kidd after Dallas plays, and he clearly seems to believe that Kidd was involved, or at least knew about, the trade that sent him to the Los Angeles Lakers. ESPN all but confirmed this in a recent episode of The Hoop Collective Podcast, and Mavericks fans were right all along.

ESPN confirms that Jason Kidd knew about the Luka Doncic trade

While telling the infamous story of Kidd intentionally spilling his drink while coach of the Brooklyn Nets in an effort to get extra time to strategize in a close game, Tim MacMahon subtly jabbed at Kidd's role in the Luka Doncic trade.

"J-Kidd’s acting skills have drastically improved in the many years since then," MacMahon said. "He convinced millions of people that he was absolutely shocked that Luka Doncic got traded in the middle of the night."

With MacMahon being one of the most plugged-in reporters in all of Dallas, this is a pretty good indicator that Kidd did indeed know about the Doncic trade before it went down. This seemed likely, as Kidd and Harrison have shared a tight relationship for years, and Mavericks fans' biggest fear about this move has now been confirmed.

It always seemed telling that Doncic refused to speak to Kidd after games, especially after he greeted nearly every other former teammate and even Mark Cuban, and now the reasoning behind this is clear. It remains unclear how involved Kidd was in the trade, but Doncic acts like he was involved at the very least.

This ESPN report strongly suggests that, and Kidd isn't safe from criticism when it comes to the trade that tore the Mavericks apart. Dallas hasn't been the same since Luka Doncic was traded, and even though the fan base has fallen in love with Cooper Flagg, the city's love for Doncic will never be forgotten.