Monday night exemplified the stark divide between how fans of the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks are processing life after the Luka Doncic trade.
In Los Angeles, a sellout crowd showered Doncic with cheers as he made his Lakers debut, a little over a week after the Lakers acquired the generational superstar from Dallas for a package headlined by Anthony Davis.
Fans arrived at Crypto.com Arena to find Doncic shirts on their seats. LeBron James wore one as he warmed up before the game against the Utah Jazz.
The public address announcer saved Doncic for last as he named the Lakers’ starting lineup. The introduction of the Slovenian sensation earned a booming ovation. The crowd remained loud as Doncic, on his first touch as a Laker, found Jaxson Hayes for an alley-oop dunk.
Doncic, in his first game since straining his calf on Christmas, played 24 minutes in the Lakers’ 132-113 victory as he eased back into action. He scored 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting to go with five rebounds and four assists.
A full-court pass by Doncic that resulted in an easy James lay-up with under a minute left in the first half served as a highlight.
“I was a little bit nervous before,” Doncic said. “I don’t remember the last time I was nervous before the game, but once I stepped on the court, it was fun. Just being out there again felt amazing.”
The night of celebration unfolded in Los Angeles as tension continued to hang over Dallas.
Multiple fans were ejected from the American Airlines Center during the Mavericks’ 129-128 loss to the Sacramento Kings, including two who brandished a sign reading “FIRE NICO,” according to ESPN. One of those fans appeared to say the same phrase when he was featured on the Jumbotron during a karaoke segment.
“Fire Nico” has become a rallying cry among Mavericks fans in protest of general manager Nico Harrison’s surprise decision to trade Doncic, the face of the franchise who led Dallas to the NBA Finals eight months ago.
Two more fans were reportedly ejected after getting into a shouting match with Mark Cuban, who sold the team to casino mogul Miriam Adelson and her family in 2023.
“Shut the f–k up and sit the f–k down!” Cuban shouted at the fans, according to ESPN, which reviewed footage of the incident.
Patrick Dumont, the Mavericks’ governor and the husband of Adelson’s daughter, heard boos during Monday’s game as well.
After the loss, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd missed his standard postgame press conference. A reason for his absence has not been given.
“You just got to give everybody grace,” Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving said of the fans.
“To see the emotions come out like that over basketball, that just shows you that basketball is not just a game to certain people. It’s a spiritual experience. It’s a connector piece, and they watch their favorite players and they want to see them forever, so I run the side of just understanding where people are coming from.”
Monday was hardly the first time Mavericks fans have publicly expressed displeasure with the trade. Around 1,000 people attended a protest outside the American Airlines Center on Saturday before the Mavericks’ first home game since the blockbuster, where “Fire Nico” was among the chants.
A truck carrying a billboard reading “Fire Nico, Sell The Team” appeared outside of the arena before Saturday and Monday’s games.
Davis made his Mavericks debut in Saturday’s 116-105 win over the Houston Rockets, dominating with 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks in 31 minutes, but he left in the third quarter with a left adductor strain and did not return.
Davis, who was making his return that day from an abdominal strain, is reportedly now expected to miss multiple weeks.
Injuries have frequently plagued Davis, who turns 32 next month. The power forward played in a career-high 76 games last season but missed at least 26 games in each of the previous three.
Last week, Harrison cited the defensive prowess of Davis, a 10-time All-Star, as a reason for making the trade, but he also said the Mavericks “got out in front of what could have been a tumultuous summer.”
Doncic would have been eligible this offseason for a supermax contract worth $345 million over five years. Harrison and Doncic both said the point guard never indicated an unwillingness to sign a supermax extension.
Doncic’s lack of conditioning had reportedly become a point of contention among Mavericks brass.
In a post-trade interview with The Dallas Morning News, Dumont cited the importance of “culture.”
“In my mind the way teams win is by focus, by having the right character, by having the right culture, and having the right dedication to work as hard as possible to create a championship-winning outcome,” Dumont said. “And if you’re not doing that, you’re going to lose.”