"He Stole Luka": JR Smith's Arrest Footage Shows Officer Complaining About LeBron James

A video of former NBA star JR Smith went viral on social media after bodycam footage from his late September arrest in Royse City, Texas, surfaced this week. Smith had an active warrant for family violence assault that officers spotted via an automated license plate reader when they flagged his vehicle on Interstate 30.

While officers confirmed the warrant, conversation turned to Smith’s NBA credentials. He shared how he is a two-time champion, winning both rings alongside LeBron James. The Texas officer, clearly still raw over the 2025 Luka Doncic trade, then ranted that LeBron had orchestrated the deal that sent the Mavericks’ franchise star to Los Angeles.

"He stole Luka from us, man," the officer told Smith, the video re-uploaded by Luka Updates on X. "He stole Luka from us.That was all him. I'm still mad. Still mad. If they'd have let Rick Carlisle coach like Rick Carlisle coach and let him condition."

The Mavericks’ post-trade spiral gave the complaint lasting bite. After Luka's abrupt departure in the February 2025 three-team deal that brought Anthony Davis to Dallas, Kyrie Irving suffered a season-ending ACL tear. Davis himself exited early with an adductor strain and dealt with recurring injuries that limited his impact. Veterans such as Klay Thompson provided intermittent production amid the broader roster instability, but the franchise finished the following season near the bottom of the West.

Fast forward to the 2026-27 season, and even with Irving largely healthy alongside No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, the Mavericks sit ninth in the Western Conference at 4-3. It remains early, yet the modest start underscores why residual anger over the trade still surfaces in unexpected places like a Royse City traffic stop.

Having said all that, it's understandable why the officer claimed that Mavericks fans are still upset about the Luka trade.

LeBron James Claims to be Clueless of Luka Doncic Trade in 2025

The Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks stunned the basketball world in February 2025 when their general managers agreed to a blockbuster trade involving Anthony Davis and Luka Doncic.

Nobody saw it coming, especially because Doncic had long been viewed as the face of the Mavericks in the post-Dirk Nowitzki era.

Meanwhile, Davis’s close friendship with LeBron James only added to the confusion. Many fans wondered whether James had any influence on the deal, particularly given his reputation for having a voice in his team’s major decisions.

“The first time I heard it, I thought it was for sure fake,” LeBron James said at the time. “I thought it was a hoax. People messing around or whatever. But AD FaceTimed me, and I talked to him for quite a while. Even when I got off the phone with him, it still didn’t seem real. Pretty much didn’t seem real until I saw Luka today, and then I saw the clip of AD at the Dallas shootaround. That’s when it finally hit me, like, ‘This is real.'”

No hard evidence has ever linked LeBron James to engineering the trade. In reality, the deal was driven by the Mavericks’ front office, whose concerns reportedly centered on Doncic’s conditioning, durability, and the long-term financial commitments tied to his next contract.

Still, the optics were hard for Dallas fans to accept. Losing a generational talent like Doncic, especially to a rival franchise and in exchange for Davis felt like a decision made without the fan base in mind.

Nearly two years later, that frustration has not faded. The officer’s on-camera reaction captured it perfectly: for many Mavericks supporters, the trade remains less a business move and more an open wound, one that has left them unconvinced, bitter, and still searching for someone to blame.