With Luka Doncic set to make his debut in a Lakers jersey tonight, Udonis Haslem had a hard pill to swallow for the Mavericks fanbase. UD thinks it’s high time that they acclimatized to their new roster and stopped complaining about the Doncic-Anthony Davis trade.
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On ESPN, Haslem said, “I got a message for the Dallas Mavericks fans. Get over it. Get over it. I’ve had the opportunity to play against this franchise twice in the Finals. One time they beat us, and the second time they didn’t… Be happy because some franchises ain’t been to the Finals in 20 years. Get over it.”
UD was an integral part of the roster that defeated the Dallas Mavericks in 2006 and the 2011 super team that suffered an upset at the hands of Dirk Nowitzki and Co. It’s due to this history that Haslem wants to see a more grateful fanbase that appreciates their franchise.
“You got a good franchise, Dallas. Be happy that you’ve been to the Finals in the last couple of years and you had an opportunity to watch that,” the three-time NBA champion remarked.
Udonis Haslem says Dallas Mavericks fans need to get over Luka Doncic getting traded:
“Get over it… You got a good franchise over here. Be happy, because there’s some franchises ain’t been to the [NBA] Finals in 20 years…”
(via @ESPNNBA)
pic.twitter.com/O7siq9QCaZ— MFFL NATION (@NationMffl) February 10, 2025
Haslem’s comments probably stem from the ongoing protests taking place outside American Airlines Center. Even 10 days on from the trade, the Mavericks faithful continue to mourn the departure of Doncic. In fact, some fans have even brought caskets to the Mavs arena to send a message on the blockbuster trade.
Over the past week, Nowitzki’s statue has become home to 100s of notes written by fans to express their discontent. After all, many in Dallas believed that they had found their next Dirk in Luka. So they disagree with Nico Harrison’s assessment of the 25-year-old as a risk to the culture in Dallas.
Apart from just trading away one of the league’s brightest stars, the Mavericks front office has also seemingly been on a quest to badmouth the Slovenian guard. Nico shared how Doncic’s conditioning concerns were part of the reason they traded him, and recently, the Mavs Governor doubled down on those criticisms.
Patrick Dumont married into the Adelson family in 2009 and has since climbed the ranks of Las Vegas Sands Corp. In 2023, when the Adelson-Dumont family purchased a majority stake in the Mavericks, Dumont became the team governor, taking over from Mark Cuban.
Clearly, his first move has invited criticism and he tried to quell it through a public interview on Dallas Morning News. He echoed many of Harrison’s points, outlining how the franchise is attempting to build a culture that has “the right dedication to work as hard as possible“.
However, he then insinuated that Doncic did not possess those qualities. “And if you don’t have that, it doesn’t work. And if you don’t have that, you shouldn’t be part of the Dallas Mavericks,” the Mavericks Governor shared.
For the fanbase in Dallas, it must be doubly hard to not just see Doncic leave, but to see their team burn all bridges with the star who led them to the Finals.
To the fanbase’s credit, they did show Davis a warm welcome during his debut for the Mavericks. But now that the Brow is sidelined with injury indefinitely, the silver linings to the Doncic trade are getting harder and harder to see.
