Mavericks star Klay Thompson has been caught in the middle of a nasty situation in Dallas after the team traded their biggest star, Luka Doncic. As the fans continue to rage over the deal, the American Airlines Center has turned into a toxic scene but Klay says that he understands the outrage.
“You could acknowledge and understand the frustration because Luka was that great,” said Thompson. “I signed here and so did everyone else. We believe in the opportunity ahead of us, and the ability to win. It’s not our job to get deflated because people are upset.”
To say Mavericks fans are upset right now would be an understatement. In light of the Luka Doncic trade, which sent Doncic to Los Angeles in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a future draft pick, the fanbase has completely turned on the front office and ownership, going so far as to call for their jobs during Mavericks games. The fan reaction has been so intense that Nico Harrison has been M.I.A. due to security concerns and several critics were thrown out of the previous home game.
Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont is still clueless about how angry his fanbase is but it hasn’t been lost on the players. Luka himself has taken notice but so has Klay Thompson and the others. While Klay has never seen a crowd this hostile, there’s nothing more he can do but play through it and hope for positive results.
Klay was a Warrior for 13 years, where he won four championships alongside Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. He knows more than most about what it takes to succeed and came to the Mavericks in hopes of making one last title run before his career is over.
Now, with Doncic out of the equation, the timeline has shifted for the Mavericks and their urgency to win now has increased ten-fold. Despite the massive trade and more injuries to Anthony Davis, the Mavericks will be fighting to stay afloat in the West and Thompson’s performance will be a major factor in their success.
If he can ignore the noise and rally behind the current roster, it will go a long way toward getting back in the good graces of the fans. But if the Mavs fail to play well, or Luka Doncic goes on a long playoff run, things could get downright ugly for the Mavericks.
At the very least, it will take some time for things to cool off in Dallas. As fans mourn the Luka deal, the team has only made things worse so far by kicking people out of the stadium and trying to justify the trade by blaming Luka’s conditioning. Clearly, the Mavericks are taking a defense approach with this move and they feel like they did the right thing — but nothing they say now will alleviate the concerns of the fans.
At this point, the only thing that can make this right is the Mavericks winning a championship but the odds aren’t looking great this season thanks to myriads of injuries that have compromised half the roster.
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