Undoubtedly, the Dallas Mavericks suffered a significant setback after the historic trading of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February.
On Wednesday, it seemed they had not forgotten, as evidenced by the removal of a Doncic billboard in Dallas. According to Arash Markazi of The Sporting Tribune, the Mavericks allegedly coordinated efforts to relocate the billboard to a different location, far away from the American Airlines Center, where it was originally intended to be placed.
The billboard is of Doncic in partnership with Overwatch 2’s Stadium Mode for Season 18.
Recently, Doncic signed a lucrative contract extension with the Lakers. Also, he is competing with the Slovenian National Team in the EuroBasket tournament.
On Monday, Doncic joined forces with Overwatch 2. The removal of the billboard with his face on it does rekindle memories of another period involving a high profile player and his former team.
In 2010, LeBron James famously decided to go from Cleveland to Miami. Afterward, a Nike billboard featuring James was removed from the city of Cleveland.
All of which spoke to the white hot hostility the city had for James at the time.
The impact Luka Doncic had on the Mavericks
Prior to the Lakers, Doncic was looked at as the face of the franchise. With the Mavericks, Doncic led them to an NBA title in 2024.
That year, he also won the NBA scoring title. Five years earlier, Doncic was named the NBA Rookie of the Year.
Additionally, he was a five-time All-NBA First Team selections and All-Star selections. Furthermore, Doncic set the record for the most points scored in a game for the Mavericks with 73.
Since the trade, Mavericks' fans have taken their ire out on GM Nico Harrison. The chants of “Fire Nico!” reverberated around the city and arena.
Additionally, Kyrie Irving's ACL injury was the final nail in the coffin.
