Just a week ago Dallas Maverick’s General Manager Nico Harrison acquired NBA All-Star Anthony Davis in exchange for Luka Doncic. The trade would stir up the most controversy the league has seen in awhile but after all the dust has settled, Mavs fans are still standing shell-shocked as their franchise player just got shipped out of town because he couldn’t get on a diet.
That shock quickly turned into sadness, then anger, then rage. It got ugly in Dallas quick. Nico Harrison has received numerous death threats since the trade and has been forced to up his personal security and skip public press conferences due to violent fans.
Though the response is a tragedy, the Dallas Mavericks had to have seen this coming. Luka was beloved by the Dallas fans and post trade a shrine was built for Luka outside the arena.
Mavs fans went so far as to throw a protest outside of the American Airlines Center before their first home game since the trade.
The Protest
February 8th, 2025, 12:30PM CT
A few hundred people gather outside of the main entrance of the American Airlines center. The mob is littered with signs labeled, “FIRE NICO,” or “Bring Luka Back!” All in reference to the shocking trade that occurred just a few days ago.
The crowd is depressed, not filled with rage at the Dallas Mavericks front office but instead with confusion on why their cherished star Luke Doncic is gone. “Nico we don’t want here anymore,” one fan said. “This was not business, it’s personal. We want them to sell the team. We want Luka in this city where he belongs.”
Eventually the crowd dispersed as people starting filing in to watch the game but a message rang consistent throughout the protest and eventually into the game: The issue is with Nico Harrison, not Anthony Davis.
Anthony Davis Starts Red Hot
For Davis this has to be a hard spot to come into. Playing your first home game in front of a fan base that wasn’t not expecting you and straight up does not want you. Anthony Davis even acknowledged the awkwardness after getting traded saying, “I’m not surprised by the fans’ reaction or the city’s reaction, but it’s my job to come in and play basketball and do what I’m supposed to do and give the fans hope and reassurance on why Nico brought me here.”
The nine time All-Star put all the awkwardness aside to introduce himself to the Dallas Mavericks. In his first start he helped the Mavs beat the 32-20 Houston Rockets 116-105 where he had 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks.
Davis jackrabbited into Dallas- he had 13 and 8 after one quarter with the Mavs! He made five buckets in a row for Dallas in quarter number one and was a wrecking ball of aggressiveness throughout the first half.
Unfortunately at the midpoint of the third quarter Anthony Davis suffered a non-contact lower body injury that forced him to miss the remainder of the game. After the game Davis said he felt some minor straining in his groin but that it “wasn’t that serious.”
A Spark in Dallas, Texas
Dallas has been like a deflated balloon since the Luka trade and it’s easy to see why. But this first home game showed that the trade isn’t all bad. The two Lakers traded to the Mavs, Anthony Davis and Max Christie led the team in scoring today(Christie had 23).
Not only that but in the first quarter, Davis was electric. He engaged with the crowd, dominated the glass and had a smile on his face. There were multiple moments of Davis, then his teammates urging the crowd to their feet.
So maybe don’t cancel basketball if you’re a Mavs fan…. the future is still here.
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