The Mavs Continue To Be Completely Tone-Deaf, This Time By Trying To Line Up Sponsorships To Help Profit Off Luka Doncic's Return To Dallas
Gina Ferazzi. Getty Images.For the first time since the trade that shocked the sports world, Luka Doncic will return to Dallas tonight as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Nearly two months later, that sentence still feels surreal to type/read. Coming off their loss to OKC last night it's another massive game for the Lakers as they look to secure homecourt in the playoffs and not fall into the Play In, and the Mavs also have something to play for if they for some reason want to stay in the Play In all for the chance to play OKC in Round 1.
So, while the standings context around this game matters, let's not kid ourselves. The entire story of this game is Luka's return. I think we're all interested in seeing how the crowd reacts. This might be the first time ever a player returns home as a member of the Lakers, and the entire arena still loves him. This entire situation is the last thing Mavs fans wanted, and I can only imagine how awkward it's going to be for Nico Harrison every time Luka does literally anything on the court.
Given that this is such a massive night, there's obviously a ton of reporting coming out about the return, and some of the details made me spit out my coffee that I was actually drinking.
If you're looking for an in-depth look at how this all went down, I suggest giving that entire piece a read. For the sake of this blog, I'd like to focus on a few tidbits that truly broke my brain
“Team sources told ESPN that the Mavs had also lined up lucrative sponsorship deals for Wednesday's game, with multiple companies that Doncic endorses, but those deals fell apart after Doncic's camp declined to give its blessing, pointedly noting that he now plays for the Lakers.”
There have been a lot of tonedeaf decisions by the Mavs since this trade, but this has to be near the top of the list. I had to double check to make sure I wasn't getting Centel'd because this is so outrageous I couldn't initially believe how an organization could still lack this type of awareness.
On what planet did the Mavs think this was a good idea/going to work? The organization that just betrayed Luka decides to try and make money off his return? Is this not crazy to anyone else? What would those promos even look like? It's not like you can use him in a Mavs jersey, and considering the entire fanbase hates the organization with a passion, who thought it would make sense to bring the sponsors into this mess? Was the idea that a fan would see those adds and not think it was a disastrous idea? The whole thing is baffling to me.
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The fact that Luka's camp had to respond by reminding the Mavs that he now plays for the Lakers, tells me this entire front office/business side has zero idea what they are doing and have a complete lack of understanding as to what they did by making this trade. That bridge is burned, guys. You don't get to use Luka anymore for anything. You could have, but instead, you decided to listen to Nico Harrison and make arguably the worst trade in NBA history. Two months later, going back and pretending like that never happened in an attempt to make some money off Luka is completely insane.
You can maybe understand this braindead line of thinking when you learn that the Mavs have basically tanked their entire franchise's value/revenue as a result of this trade
“It's a decision, team sources told ESPN, that probably will cost the franchise nine figures over the next several years, as the Mavs are projected to lose dozens of millions in revenue this season due to dwindling crowds, plummeting merchandise sales and sponsors severing ties with the franchise in the wake of the trade. So many fans canceled season tickets in the days after the trade that the Mavs attempted to generate some goodwill by offering limited refunds.”
Who could have possibly seen this coming! Clearly the Mavs didn't, and my question to them would be, what did you think was going to happen? That everyone would simply be pumped that AD is a Mav now and have no problems supporting the organization? It just speaks to the lack of awareness by this entire organization. If you're someone who subscribes to the theory that the Mavs owners are trying to tank the value in order to move the team or get permission to build a casino, I guess this helps fuel that speculation because that is exactly what is happening.
As I've said throughout this whole ordeal, my heart goes out to Mavs fans during all this bullshit. Nobody should have to deal with this type of incompetence and it seems like the pain never ends. Every day is something new. Now they have to deal with finally seeing Luka in Lakers colors on their home floor all because of Nico Harrison, I mean, that's tough. Even if you hate the Mavs, I feel like we all can sympathize with that fanbase right now. They are being held hostage by an organization that can't seem to get out of their own way and are hellbent on twisting the knife every chance they get.