It’s been more than a week since the stunning Luka Doncic trade, and things just appear to be getting worse and worse for the Dallas Mavericks.
The centerpiece of their return for Doncic, Anthony Davis, got hurt in his Mavericks debut on Saturday, and starting center Daniel Gafford joined him with an injury of his own in Monday’s last-second loss to the Sacramento Kings.
At 28-26, the Mavs are now tied in the loss column for the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference, putting them in serious danger of missing the postseason a year after reaching the NBA Finals with Doncic leading the charge.
Things haven’t been any easier off of the court either. Fans continue to protest the decision to trade Doncic, with general manager Nico Harrison taking the brunt of the heat for the deal.
Dallas did not show fans on the jumbotron in their first home game following the deal, which came Saturday against the Houston Rockets, but did so on Monday against the Sacramento Kings. That appeared to be a mistake, because during a fan karaoke segment played on the big screen, one fan was seen mouthing “fire Nico.”
That same fan was seen with a “fire Nico” sign in the arena. He would later be removed from the arena — to raucous boos from the fans at the American Airlines Center.
On Friday, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reported that Harrison had been subjected to death threats and racial epithets from fans in Dallas. Mavericks beat writer Grant Afseth reached out to Dallas police, who said that “there are no known threats at this time” to Harrison, but the team appears to be making every effort to combat the outrage from its fans.
According to Marc Stein, Harrison is not believed to have attended Saturday’s game against the Rockets. He was not present for Davis’ introductory press conference either. He was spotted at the arena before Monday night’s game but was not made available for comment. Mavericks coach Jason Kidd did not speak with reporters after the game either.
Mavs fans for life? After Luka Doncic trade, not necessarily: ‘It’s just such a massive betrayal’
James Herbert
Doncic, meanwhile, made his debut for the Lakers on Monday. He scored 14 points in 24 minutes with Dallas legend Dirk Nowitzki in attendance. The Mavericks, meanwhile, had to endure a brutal overtime loss to the Kings on a game-winner by DeMar DeRozan.
The anger among Mavericks fans doesn’t seem likely to subside any time soon, so don’t be surprised if more fans are kicked out of the building as the season continues.
