Mavericks Supporters Ejected for Protest Against General Manager
Dallas Mavericks fans are expressing their discontent following the trade of Luka Doncic, including an instance where a fan was removed for speaking out during the game.
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.”
the last dude screams “FIRE NICO!!” pic.twitter.com/jI1VBWEE2k
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.
Fans are booing because AAC security took away the fire Nico sign Update: it was the same guy who said fire Nico in karaoke pic.twitter.com/K5EQQ0bIKS 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.
