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The Dallas Mavericks’ chicken will finally come to roost when Luka Dončić strides into the Dallas Mavericks American Airline Center as a Los Angeles Laker on Wednesday evening. For faithful Mavericks fans, it will be a bittersweet affair.
Dončić, 25, was a franchise cornerstone who led the Mavericks to an NBA Finals berth less than a year ago. Finding a heliocentric five-time All-NBA first-team offensive engine who is still in his prime is rare. The Mavs selling when his stock was near its highest may be an all-time boondoggle. You can expect to see a fair share of “Nico sucks” shirts in the stands during Dončić’s return. To conceal that fan outrage, the organization is arranging an all-out public relations blitz, but it’s not working.
How mad are fans about the Luka Dončić trade two months later? They're still flooding social media accounts with their dissatisfaction over the trade that sent their franchise player to Los Angeles.
Mavericks fans feel betrayed
Fans aren’t just seething angry at general manager Nico Harrison. They’ve angry at the organization as a whole. In social media posts promoting Dončić’s return, the fanbase’s reaction has been so tempestuous that their social media teams have begun shutting down replies on social accounts.
On an Instagram post that displays t-shirts draped over seats throughout the arena reading ‘Thank you for everything’ in Slovenian, fans have been trashing the organization non-stop. A popular sentiment of fans rooting for Dončić to score 50 or 60 on the Mavericks in a win, decrying how depressing the sight will be and wondering why they’re thanking him when they kicked him off the team.
Another Instagram post by the @DallasMavs Instagram account garnered 1600 comments in 42 minutes. The @dallasmavs X account has kept its replies open for now, but a quick browse through the top comments tells a similar tale. The Mavericks have done everything in their power during the lead-up to Dončić’s return to appeal to their fanbase’s goodwill to no avail. Instead, they are understandably upset still. Tonight will be ugly.
It may take years for the taint of Harrison’s trade to wear off. Kyrie Irving’s season-e›nding ACL was an added kick in the stomach. Former majority owner Mark Cuban ripping Harrison’s trade did them no favors. For two decades, he dug the organization out of a ditch and transformed them into one of the league's in-vogue franchises.
Less than two years after he surrendered majority control, they’re back to being a laughing stock. Team sources told ESPN’s Tim McMahon that the Dončić trade could cost the franchise nine figures. Merchandising sales, canceled season tickets, and vanishing sponsors are just the tip of the iceberg.
