It is time to become acquainted with that face up there. It belongs to Patrick Dumont, son-in-law of Miriam Adelson and newly appointed governor of the Dallas Mavericks. It's a bad face: pink, shiny, weirdly cartilaginous, unpleasantly suggestive of something that emerged recently from a long sous vide, or that bobs up in a stock pot, leached of nutrients. Up there it is affecting an expression of grim disappointment. Here is that same face, in somewhat happier times. Terrible face!
The Mavericks lost 129-128 in overtime Monday night, at home, to the Sacramento Kings. The vibes in the arena were apocalyptic. Luka Doncic scored 14 points in 24 minutes in his first game action since Dec. 27, and appeared to have a great time contributing to a sixth consecutive win for the rising Los Angeles Lakers. Meanwhile in Dallas, Mavericks fans were screaming and howling for the head of the man who traded him away, with Anthony Davis shelved following less than three quarters of healthy basketball. The team is in pretty big trouble: They're just a game ahead of the conference's 11th seed, and will be operating at a severe disadvantage for as long as it takes for Davis's groin to heal itself. No one in the West used the trade deadline to parachute out of the playoff chase; even the Portland Trail Blazers, with a proud and improbable 15–13 home record, are getting into the conversation. There's a small but growing chance that a month from now, the Mavericks will be so far out of the picture that Davis would have no real reason to come back at all.
Security personnel had a busy time Monday night ejecting Mavericks fans for violations of the NBA's code of conduct. A couple of fans were bounced for holding up signs that read "FIRE NICO." Dumont was loudly booed, something he should get used to. Former Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban got into a shouting match with a pair of fans and then had them both tossed:
"Shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down!" Cuban yelled, according to footage a fan showed to ESPN.
Cuban told ESPN that the fans, whose seats were approximately 20 rows behind him, were yelling, "Fire Nico!" while the Mavericks were shooting free throws and again during a critical possession late in regulation. Cuban said he did not curse until the fans pointed and shouted at him, although he did not know what they said.
Mavericks players have noticed that the crowd's emotions have not cooled. Quite the opposite. "Yeah, I think it's graduated from just, like, hate, to anger, to—it's the cycle of emotions," said Kyrie Irving after the loss. "The hate, the anger, the grieving. And then the passion. You've got to give credit to Dallas fans: They've really cheered not only for Luka but for the Mavericks for 40-some-odd years, and this is their community team. It's just like I felt when the New Jersey Nets moved to Brooklyn."
"[I can] understand their frustration, because Luka was that great, and he was home-bred here," said Klay Thompson, who came to Dallas to play for a team built for contention on Doncic's back. "When you feel like you grew up with someone it hurts to lose them, especially, you know, to a team in your conference ... I was a fan, still a fan. If I didn't agree with a trade, I'd probably voice my opinion, too." Jason Kidd, head coach of this suddenly miserable and chaotic team, declined to participate in a post-game media session.
There's a dynamic here that was articulated pretty eloquently by Mavericks fans who commented under another recent Defector blog. The Dallas Cowboys are America's Team; the Mavericks, meanwhile, belong exclusively to Dallasites. They've won one title, ever; importantly they won that one title on the back of a homegrown player, Dirk Nowitzki, a star who wore only a Mavericks jersey for the length of his 21-year career. It's a fanbase that has learned over time to cherish Their Guy more than they do a playoff push. Do you know where Nowitzki was last night? He was in L.A., watching Doncic.
Doncic was supposed to be their next guy, and had the chops and magnetism for the gig. New ownership dealt him away, not because he didn't want to be in Dallas, but because some son-in-law with a baked-and-soused abomination of a face decided he knows more about competitive excellence than the player who led their team to the Finals just last season. And then that same son-in-law called their guy a radioactive slob on the way out. However much you might want to roll your eyes at the passion of sports fans, this is extremely villainous owner behavior, deserving of relentless public opprobrium.
The Mavericks have two games left before the all-star break, both at home. These days they might prefer to go on the road.
