Mark Cuban responds to Mavericks fans’ ‘Fire Nico’ chants

Two months on from his shock move to the LA Lakers, Luka Doncic returned to Dallas and put up 45 points against the Mavericks. It was an emotional night for Doncic, who was in his seventh season with the Mavs at the time of the trade.

Dallas fans, too, may have had a tear in their eye on Wednesday as they watched their former favourite take apart an underpowered Mavs team. At points in the game the Dallas crowd chanted ‘Fire Nico’ in the direction of Mavs general manager Nico Harrison, the man blamed by many fans for the trade.

Also in attendance was former majority owner Mark Cuban, who appeared less than impressed with the home crowd’s chanting.

Within ten seconds of the game’s tip-off, the home crowd was already voicing its displeasure at Harrison’s role in the blockbuster trade. It’s not the first time that the Dallas support has made clear that they wanted Doncic to stay. Soon after the trade was announced, Doncic was asked by a reporter about the outpouring of emotion in Dallas over the move.

“Yeah, I saw the fans,” Doncic said. “Obviously I really appreciate it. I’ve been there seven years, almost seven years, and it was amazing to experience those fans and their love for me. I will always appreciate that. But now I think we should focus on the next and the way Lakers fans received me here was amazing.”

The Mavericks front office will have been hoping that a run of good form would help to ease the tensions but they have failed to build any real momentum since Doncic’s departure, going 5-5 in their past ten games and dropping to 10th in the Western Conference standings. The Mavs will have to advance from the Play-In tournament if they are to make it to the postseason and they now find themselves on a three-game losing streak heading into the regular season finale.

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