Hundreds of Dallas Mavericks fans on Saturday protested the team's sudden trade of Luka Doncic in front of the American Airlines Center.
Doncic was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this month.
Dozens of protesters wore Doncic jerseys, some covering the words "Dallas Mavericks" or the team's logo with tape. They also held signs in support of Doncic and demanding Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison to be fired.
North Texas resident Billy MacLeod said he organized the protest to honor Doncic and to attempt a boycott of Saturday's game.
"There were people that were saying, 'Why are you doing this? It's disrespectful. It's not going to do anything. The trade's already gone down. It's over'," he said. "These people haven't healed yet."
MacLeod had tickets for Saturday's game, but he said he gave them away.
Saturday marked former Lakers' player Anthony Davis' debut game for the Mavericks following his trade in place of Doncic. After scoring 26 and making 16 rebounds — as well as seven assists and three blocks — Davis left the game with an injury in the third quarter.
The Mavericks won its match with the Houston Rockets, 116-105.
But long before the last basket, and even with protests still going on outside, the crowd inside American Airlines Center gave Davis big ovations when he took to the court.
The group gathered along Nowitzki Way and in front of the statue honoring Dirk Nowitzki, who was with the team for all his 21 seasons in the NBA. The words "Loyalty Never Fades Away" is engraved on its side.
But some protesters had signs that questioned whether loyalty fades away and called Doncic's trade unforgiveable.
North Texas resident Chris Kratovil said that this is the biggest sports story in Dallas history in his lifetime — and called the trade incomprehensible.
"Moments have been stolen from this fan base. moments have been stolen from this city," Kratovil said. "Luka's statue is supposed to go right there, right next to Dirk's statue and we're not going to have that now."
Kratovil had tickets for Saturday's game. He said he was going to attend, but he wasn't going to be happy about it and likened it to attending a wake.
Doncic's first season with the Mavericks was also Nowitzki's last season. Like Nowitzki, Doncic made Dallas his home, buying a mansion in 2020 and recently was under contract for a new home in the city prior to his sudden trade.
Fort Worth resident Wajid Rizvi, a Mavs fan since he moved to North Texas in 1988, said he remembered when Nowitzki came to Dallas. He was at American Airlines Center when the Mavericks lost game six to the Miami Heat in 2006. And he was in Miami in 2011 when they won the championship.
"So for me, that journey was complete and I felt fulfilled as a fan," Rizvi said.
Rizvi's son was born in 2012 and had to have a bone marrow transplant. He said it was an emotional time and sports was a way that he found strength to get through it.
"When he got healthy and we were able to bring him to his game, it's right when Luka started — when Luka came here," he said. "He would ask me, 'Can I ever see a championship?' and I said, 'You know what? I think Luka's going to get there."
Win or lose, cheering on Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks was a father and son bonding experience, Rizvi said. In the week since the trade, it's been hard on both of them.
Rizvi said it's difficult to stay loyal to a franchise he feels does not have the fans' best interests at heart and added that he wanted to refund his tickets.
But Rizvi's son said even though he loves Doncic, he can't be a Lakers fan because he's still loyal to the Mavericks.
"And I guess that teaches a bitter old man like me something about loyalty," Rizvi said. "And it's a life lesson that I can teach my son that no matter what you do in life — you can be on top of your game — but everyone's expendable."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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