The Case Against Eternal, Binding Loyalty

Maybe being eternally loyal to our favorite teams is why they treat us all like they do.

First, an apology. Once again, as I often will, I changed my plans for this morning. Today was supposed to be a look at the new-look Mavericks with the new pieces in place to imagine where this journey will take us next.

But when I read the room (the one big enough to fit the entire basketball planet), I see the clear truth: nobody wants to hear that right now. Instead, I would like to offer you the ramblings of a madman. I might definitely ramble on below, and yes, I am still pretty mad.

The room is not prepared to move on at this moment. We are still shaken. We are staggering, and it isn’t starting to feel better.

This wasn’t a trade that just happened. The Stars made a trade this weekend, and we can safely call that “just a trade” because that is what it was.

No, what the Mavericks have just done to this city is different. They have nuked a generation of loyalists in a way that almost feels like they have no idea what they just did. This was a catastrophic incident from within the organization that requires plenty of healing.

You don’t need to take my word for it, probably. I am guessing you have been walking around in the same dazed posture as everyone else. If not, you know someone who is. You could not focus yesterday. You could not understand it. In fact, you probably did what I did on many occasions in the last 24 hours. You will be sitting there, you will be quiet, and then you will just say out loud to nobody in particular, “I just don’t understand this.”

It just doesn’t make any sense.

Listening to Nico Harrison yesterday did not help this. He claimed full responsibility for this move and you do wonder if he has any idea what he has done.

He insisted during this press conference the following:

• He didn’t talk to any teams but the Lakers about a deal.

• He believes this is a move that makes them better now.

• Jason Kidd did not know about this deal.

• Luka Dončić – nor his people – have ever indicated a wish to leave Dallas.

Now, I covered a fair amount of this yesterday, but those four points can each individually make you insane. To put those four factors together suggests malpractice at levels we have never seen before.

So, there was no long and thorough organizational consensus reached that convinced the team they must do this? They did not reach the level of an untenable relationship that only had one final maneuver to make? When Jason Kidd is sitting next to Nico during this claim, Kidd absolutely has the 1,000-yard stare of someone who really wishes you had checked more with him (but I readily admit that perhaps I am projecting a bit too much onto Kidd).

The new owners are probably normal new owners in that they are used to being powerful and decisive, but this is not their field of expertise. Heck, they might have only bought the franchise because they were growing their gaming dominance again and needed a foothold in Texas. Logically, they try to trust those they have in place who know basketball and therefore probably nodded as Nico explained why he needed to trade the face of the franchise, took a deep breath, and said, “We trust your judgment,” before going back to whatever they normally do.

The judgment was probably based on a few things that are annoying about Luka. Let’s pause here for a moment and acknowledge this important point. He does have some annoying traits and characteristics. He has proven to be stubborn in these ways, and this city’s basketball fans have been quick to defend him at every turn because he is ours. It’s completely normal to realize how rare it is to have a rare talent in our city.

At times, he has been allowed to do things his way because everyone has been so accommodating to him that we wondered if the team had the guts to ever call him out on those shortcomings—or if he is allowed to do whatever he wants because everyone is scared of him leaving someday. We have listed quite a few of these faults over the years in this very space—how he needs to decide that he can be an even better version of himself and will need to do that if he wants to ultimately win it all. Playing more committed defense, being in tip-top shape, not losing his mind constantly at officials, etc., etc.

But at its core are two vital things. The first is that it is completely normal for an athlete to have to learn through his own experience that he isn’t always right. Humans always think they are the smartest person in the room, and Luka is no different. He never experienced failure in his life, and failure is an amazing teacher in how you can be better. Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash both verified it took them about a decade into their careers to start changing their habits because they realized they must in order to maximize their potential.

The second thing is even more important. That is, to the best of our knowledge (and we have quite a bit from connections and conversations), there is no evidence that Luka Dončić had any plans to ever try to leave Dallas, despite his considerable power. For years, this has been feared, but there is plenty of reason to believe that this next group of players—who might be called “the post-player-empowerment era”—has learned from the constant franchise-hopping of the last generation’s LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving, etc., that all that glitters is not gold. Switching teams does not bring happiness after all, and maybe making one franchise yours forever is where it’s at. So, as Steph Curry showed, and now Jokić, Giannis, and Luka seem to be showing too, maybe the one-franchise model is more fulfilling for the best of the best?

It seemed like these guys would say, “If you want to play with me, you need to come to my city.” Their branding almost appeared to be in conjunction with their franchise. They have a home, and as co-operator of the franchise, you must understand that players of that rare level have no desire to go meet you in Miami or Los Angeles anymore. The destination franchise will never be as accommodating as Denver, Milwaukee, or Dallas. Why? Because the destination franchises won’t ever truly love you. They will use you for as long as they can and then move on to the next one. They even know it. The Lakers are a hotel for famous people. Meanwhile, those franchises that knew you at age 18 have you in their hearts. They share that space with nobody. They are thankful and grateful—and probably too forgiving. You can leave trash everywhere on the floor, and they will quickly pick it up rather than say something to you about where the trash can is.

For Luka to be traded away without ever forcing the issue is the most disconcerting thing about all of this. And it basically leads me to the biggest point of it all today—I realize that just calling one team, the Lakers, and also really thinking Anthony Davis makes you more likely to win a title than Luka Dončić are both insane ideas, but I just want to spend this essay on what is really on my mind.

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I don’t think the people in charge have any idea what they have just done.

I think Nico Harrison believes he just made a basketball trade, and that makes it like the other ones he has done. I think that means he believes he needed to keep it a secret and only tell those who need to be told. I think he expects everything to blow over in a few days and for us to trust his judgment.

I think the owners trust their basketball guy because what else are they supposed to do?

And I think everyone else in the organization is doing what you would expect of people who are employees for leadership they don’t actually agree with—they are putting on a brave face and hoping they know what they are doing.

It might just be a perfect storm. A first-time GM gets on a heater with trades, and everyone starts telling him he is great at this stuff. I swear, every trade you make is a good one! How are you so good at this?

Then, Mark Cuban sells the controlling shares of power, so Nico goes from bouncing his plans off Mark to bouncing his plans off somewhat indifferent new ownership that might have zero basketball opinions. In effect, the safety net of cross-examinations in internal meetings has become… nobody?

So, the heater, the team success, the lack of internal meetings and league intelligence as to the market, and the growing annoyance with Luka’s habits in certain sectors all combine to create this belief that Dončić may not even be needed around here anymore?

I realize the preceding paragraph included a lot of leaps. I do. But here is where the rubber meets the road for us.

Here on the outside, we only know one thing: we love our guy. Why? Because he is ours, and organically, it was easy. But let us not forget that you, the franchise, asked us to love him, too. You pushed him in front of us as the leader of this entire operation and reminded us of all of his conquests. Before long, it didn’t matter if someone was paid to love him or was paying to love him. Luka was the most loved present-day athlete in this city by about 100 miles. There is no second place. Micah Parsons and Corey Seager are awesome, and we are lucky to have them, but come on. It isn’t close. There are 10 jerseys for every one. There is just no comparison.

So, you can trade our guy, I suppose, but you better understand what you are doing and consider carefully that there is no way to undo what you are about to do. You better make sure you have exhausted all the half-measures before you go to the full measures. You better think this through.

Because if you don’t, you are going to quickly realize this is not at all like trading away Tim Hardaway, Grant Williams, or Dorian Finney-Smith.

If you make this trade, you are going to crush people. I mean, you will ruin their week. You will ruin their love of their team. You will drive away your biggest supporters. They won’t even care what you get back and they will absolutely not move on once you play a few games.

Luka Doncic made this city care. He made them feel alive inside. That moment in Game 2 in Minnesota was just last May 25th and when that happened, we were sure he was the chosen one.

But we have seen it so many times that it changed the verbiage in this city. What was once, “Do you want to go see the Mavericks tonight?” became, “Let’s go see Luka!” He was the franchise, and they were him. New people—like Nico—were hired to help Luka. New players were acquired to fit around Luka. This project was about conquering, and we knew who the leader and hero was. Now, we just needed to figure out the perfect supporting pieces.

And the crazy thing? It was all happening. The additions were all working, and all they needed was a bit more time. They were in the NBA Finals eight months ago.

EIGHT MONTHS.

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We are sports fans. I preach about loyalty and the scourge of bandwagon jumping and front-running. I believe that your teams are your teams, and that journey is beautiful, painful, and rewarding. I have a team logo tattoo on my right arm. I am never going to forget what teams make me feel.

I also know that most players would never dream of getting a team logo tattoo. Instead, they get a league logo all the time because they know that the league is their home, but the teams don’t truly love them back. A team might employ them for a short time and then discard them. They work for the league and will accept a job wherever it leads. Some genuinely love their clubs, but at the end of the day, we die-hard fans will never meet a player who loves our team as much as we do. It isn’t their fault, nor is it ours. But they will play for a team for six or seven years if they’re lucky, while we will love our teams for 70 years. It’s just different.

But days like yesterday remind us that fans can lose their love for a team—especially young fans. When a young fan finds out that his favorite player was sent away for less-than-convincing reasons to a mortal enemy, he is going to wonder why he has to side with those who hurt him. His favorite hero is still on TV, but in different colors. His hero is smiling again. His hero still makes him happy. He is jumping ship.

It hurts to admit it, but that kid isn’t wrong, is he? Is loyalty to a team really about buying all the nonsense they sell? Is it about supporting the wrong moves just because we like the colors? Is it about realizing that this only happened because a first-time GM and a first-time owner made a mistake in judgment—and nobody was there to tell them that you cannot un-fire the nukes once they have been launched?

Over the last several weeks, many of you readers have been openly contemplating the case for fan loyalty and being a die-hard when your leaders let you down over and over with their hubris and incompetence. Usually, this has been a Jerry Jones question, and it truly is incredible how the Mavericks were able to push the Cowboys aside for that title of incompetence this time.

I suppose the only consolation is that Nico Harrison can be fired for his mistake once the owners figure out what he has done. I would also suggest that he will not be the GM in 12 months if this goes as I suspect it might. The owners will make him a sacrificial lamb to attempt to buy back our favor, but it might be too late to buy back a team in deep contention—or a once-in-a-lifetime iconic superstar who landed in Dallas. Looking at the ages, the assets, and the likely moves going forward, this feels like the Mavericks have taken a massive step backward when it felt like they were so close to the top. Nobody thinks this can be survived.

I just think this comes down to naïve leadership thinking Luka Dončić was just another player and, by definition, just another asset. (Yes, I have seen the Las Vegas theories, but I will use Occam’s razor here and tell you I don’t buy that at all.) Just another number on a spreadsheet that can be flipped or deleted whenever and to whomever.

“We will get another player, and the plebes will keep buying our stuff.”

Instead, I think we believe that they just did irreparable damage to a franchise that was mostly loved by its public. They just took the heart out of the body. For many, it seems they went from being an important part of people’s lives to just a basketball franchise that happens to exist inside the city limits.

Make no mistake. This is not a trade. This is an assault on your own loyalists—a move on a magnitude that reminds us of the end of Jimmy Johnson’s tenure as Cowboys head coach just two months after the Super Bowl in Atlanta, or the Edmonton Oilers sending Wayne Gretzky away three months after lifting the Stanley Cup. Now, yes, those two had won their last moment, and I admit that Gretzky had an entire nation in tears (which, technically, is more than Luka can say), but this is just flat-out unthinkable.

Dončić is 25 years old, and he is now a Los Angeles Laker—most likely for the rest of his elite years.

But I am more interested in the tens of thousands who tell me they will never feel as in love with or as passionate about the Mavericks ever again. I generally don’t believe in breakups with our teams, but I also don’t believe in trading the best player unless you have a very clear explanation. And they did not.

We are so loyal. We are so forgiving. But sometimes, we just want to know that our teams understand the role we play in their world. They say they do, but do they? Have they ever felt what it is like to truly piss people off to this extent? Do they know what a real fan boycott would actually feel like? They just gutted a lot of people, and this one feels like it might be permanent for many of them. Time will tell.

I am going to end these ramblings with something I said to myself all day yesterday:

“I just don’t think they realize what they have done.”

And when they do, it will be way too late to fix any of it. The damage has been done.