It’s been weeks since the trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, but Mavericks fans have still not forgiven the front office. On Friday evening, outrage peaked online after the Mavericks censored No. 77 from their newest promo video.
They really went out of their way to edit out Luka, which makes you wonder why they even bothered to include footage of him in the first place. In one censored moment, you can even see Luka’s silhouette dancing in celebration, which may hint that the Mavericks didn’t have time to properly edit the video to only include their current players.
At several points in the now-deleted clip (0:59, 1:15, 1:53) the Mavericks shamelessly cover Doncic with a team logo over a black silhouette and it’s a major show of disrespect toward their former franchise player. In response, fans blasted the organization further and it’s probably why they eventually took it down.
“They are laughing in our faces with the disrespect of removing Luka from these clips. They don’t respect us as a fan base,” wrote an angry fan in the comments. “F**k y’all, Mavericks.”
It’s important to mention that Luka did not request a trade from the franchise and he was as shocked as anyone by the deal. So for the Mavericks to treat him like this doesn’t make sense given that he never tried to force his way out like other NBA stars.
“That’s egregious behavior, it’s not like Luka wanted to leave,” noted one X user.
It might have looked better for the Mavericks if they also censored Maxi Kleber (who was included in the trade) but he is seen at several points in the video in full camera view. It’s getting almost personal now and it’s clear the Mavericks are trying to make it look like Luka Doncic was never there at all.
“I’m surprised that y’all are using game footage from when Luka was a Mav,” wrote one fan on X. “It seems like y’all wanna erase all of that…”
It’s not like Luka Doncic didn’t play his role for the Mavericks. He led them to the Western Conference Finals in 2022 and to the NBA Finals in 2024 with career averages of 28.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game on 46.9% shooting. Despite his elite status, the Mavs have completely turned on Luka.
“He brought y’all to the finals and u do this?!? Honestly disgusting work,” a fan replied to the Mavericks’ post.
The Mavericks have tried various methods to justify the trade. Mostly, they’ve resorted to blaming Luka Doncic and using his poor conditioning as an excuse to cut ties with the young star.
In response to everything, the fans have been aggressively fighting back and making it known they disapprove of trading Luka Doncic. After getting downright disrespectful against the young star, many Mavericks fans have abandoned the team to follow the Slovenian superstar on the Lakers.
With averages of 14.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game for the Lakers, the transition to Los Angeles hasn’t been the smoothest for Luka but he has more than enough time to get his bearings and make the Mavericks regret getting rid of him.
At the very least, the Mavericks will take a hit on their reputation after turning on their franchise superstar so quickly after he led them to the Finals. They won’t say his name and they won’t show his face in a Mavericks jersey, perhaps suggesting that there may be something more behind their unexpected breakup.
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