This month’s Luka Doncic trade turned the NBA world on its head and the ensuing fallout has resulted in fan protests, death threats and calls for Mavs ownership to sell the team.
Now with rumors that the franchise has its sights set on relocation to Las Vegas, fans are even more up in arms. But commissioner Adam Silver stepped in to shoot that down.
“Adam Silver says there is ‘no doubt’ in his mind that owners of the Mavericks bought the team to have it in Dallas, and that there were no ‘ulterior motives’ to the Luka Doncic trade, which he said he was as surprised as everyone else by when it happened,” ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reported.
Adam Silver says there is “no doubt” in his mind that owners of the Mavericks bought the team to have it in Dallas, and that there were no “ulterior motives” to the Luka Doncic trade, which he said he was as surprised as everyone else by when it happened.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) February 16, 2025
Fans weren’t exactly buying it though.
“The NBA has spent so many years making a concerted effort to dumb down its fans, it thinks it can get away with lying this blatantly. On second thought, it WILL get away with it because the dumbing down strategy worked on the majority,” a user said.
“‘I swear Nico Harrison only made the trade because he’s bad at his job.’ – Adam Silver, basically.”
“Then it really just was the worst trade in NBA history,” another commented. “Dallas could have got 7 firsts for Luka if they would have shopped him around.”
“So what he’s saying is that they will be moving to Las Vegas in 5 years,” a fan replied.
“He can lie all he wants, but people know this was forced so that the NBA can have a marketable face of the league in a big city, once LeBron retires either this year or next,” another person theorized.
“Says a lot by even having to make a statement like this smh.”
The Mavericks had historically been one of the league’s most stable franchises under Mark Cuban‘s leadership. But since selling his majority stake, things have gone in a very different direction.
Hopefully this is just a bump in the road for Dallas and not something that changes the trajectory of its franchise (which it very well could be).
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