The February trade of Luka Dončić from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers produced massive headlines in the sports world.
High-stakes poker player and businessman Alan Keating had a front-row seat for reaction among NBA players while participating in the Golden State Warriors’ annual charity tournament held at center court of Chase Center.
Keating was actually playing with Steph Curry at the time and released a video on his YouTube channel Wednesday documenting his experience at the tournament. The video had real behind-the-scenes access to NBA greats reacting to the unprecedented trade.
As several players see the news on their phones, the Warriors look shocked at the transaction. It’s not often a 26-year-old point guard that led his team to the NBA Finals a year earlier is moved to a different team.
The video captures Keating’s private flight from Las Vegas to San Francisco, followed by his entry into the tournament, where Phil Hellmuth served as emcee. However, the poker was secondary to the video as the trade took center stage among the crowd.
The players turned their attention to one of the most controversial transactions in league history.
“No, that’s not real,” one player said.
“Is this fake?” Warriors assistant general manager Kirk Lakob said.
Players appeared stunned as more news of the trade continued to roll in. Curry yelled into his phone several times as he learned about the deal.
“To be in the stadium when this happened was unforgettable,” Keating said in the voiceover of the video. “Everyone’s looking around at each other, ‘Is this real?’ The dealers stopped dealing. Everyone is checking their phones. We couldn’t believe it.”
Watch the complete video below.
The trade was indeed real and the Mavericks received Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round draft pick from the Lakers. Along with Dončić, the Mavericks sent Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to L.A.
The Mavericks received massive amounts of criticism for the trade. Fans chanted “Fire Nico” throughout home games for the remainder of the season, referencing their displeasure with general manager Nico Harrison.
Harrison was the trade architect, and the chant was even heard at Dallas Stars home games.
Despite the trade, the Lakers bowed out of the playoffs in the first round and the Mavericks lost in one of the league’s “play-in” games.
As for the poker tournament, Keating eliminated Curry and received a Curry jersey as part of the bounty on Curry’s head.
Not only did he eliminate one of the league’s biggest stars, Keating went on to make the final table and eventually won the tournament.
Heads-up play appeared quick, but swingy. First, Keating’s pocket deuces fell to his opponent’s J
7
when the flop brought J
77
. On the next hand, Keating was all in blind and held pocket fives versus Q6. The flop delivered 872, keeping Keating in the lead. The 9 came on the turn. The J fell on the river, handing Keating the win and a Warriors bracelet for the title.
“I won the tournament,” he said. “I didn’t see that coming, but it feels great. Alan Keating, bracelet winner… The only bracelet I’ll ever win. But I’m so glad that this is the one I won.”
For quite a while, Keating was one of the more intriguing characters in the poker world. Keating was a regular in nosebleed stakes livestreamed cash games, but his personal life was a mystery to the public.
That changed when Keating launched his YouTube channel in March with a video explaining why he made an insane call third pair against Peter Wang in a nearly $1 million pot.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
