Mavericks fans show disgust towards Luka Doncic trade with passionate protest

The Dallas Mavericks franchise changed forever one week ago as they traded Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a first-round pick.

This was a move that no one expected, as Nico Harrison and Rob Pelinka kept the details of this deal in the shadows until it was time to push it over the finish line. Not even Jason Kidd knew about this deal until right before it happened, and everyone on both sides of the trade was shocked. The suddenness of this move sent the city of Dallas into a whirlwind, and the past week has been filled with Mavericks fans voicing their opinion about this deal.

You can't go anywhere in the city without hearing someone talking about Doncic and the trade that Harrison decided to make, and these angry fans made their voice heard outside of the American Airlines Center on Saturday ahead of Dallas' game against the Houston Rockets.

Mavericks fans are still furious over the Doncic trade

Fans on social media organized a protest in PNC Plaza in front of the Dirk Nowitzki statue for noon today, and while the protest was fairly small to begin, Mavericks fans steadily joined in and turned it into an event that allowed them to show just how much Doncic meant to the city and how angry they are that he is no longer a Maverick. The police presence outside of the arena was significantly increased in preparation for this, and as the afternoon went on, the plaza got more packed with fans.

Fans held signs disapproving of the trade, started countless chants, and someone even brought a coffin. Harrison owned the decision to trade Doncic due to his high belief in Davis' defense along with concerns about Doncic's conditioning and the fear of giving him a supermax contract, but these fans aren't buying that and neither was Doncic.

In Doncic's Lakers introductory press conference, he made it clear that no one from his camp signaled to the Mavs that he wouldn't sign the supermax extension this summer, and in his letter to the city of Dallas, he said that he thought he would spend his entire career with the Mavericks. Doncic wanted to win a championship with the Mavs badly, but now that he's gone, fans may never get to see that. He is reportedly furious with the Mavericks and their decision to trade him, and the fans seem to feel the same way.

These fans can't believe that the team would trade the franchise cornerstone right after making the NBA Finals last season, and since there were no rumors of them wanting to move on from him to begin with, it made the aftershock of the move much worse.

These fans outside of the arena started anti-Nico Harrison chants, "we love Luka" chants, "sell the team" chants, a "Maxi Kleber" chant, and many other chants about the team. The fans were trying to do whatever they could to show how badly they were hurt by this move, and the protest didn't just occur inside the barricades of the plaza.

A large truck with a sign that said "fire Nico" and "sell the team" continuously circled the arena, which the fans who participated in the protest loved, and there was a separate pickup truck that displayed signage reading "77FL," "fire Nico," and "inside traitor" that circled past the protest multiple times.

Almost every time that these trucks past by, there was cheering from the fans inside the barricades, and this protest may be the most outrage we have ever seen from a fanbase in reaction to a move or a trade. These fans were trying to do whatever they could to voice their displeasure to the organization, and considering the turnout of the planned protest, they seemed to have gotten their point across.

The protest remained peaceful, and while fans outside of the stadium were furious, what was going on inside of the American Airlines Center was much happier starting a little after 2 PM. Davis made his Mavericks debut and dominated right when the game started, and the ovation from fans was unbelievably loud.

Mavericks fans are never going to forget what Doncic brought to the team and how much he meant to the city, but if Davis can play at an elite level moving forward, Dallas is going to be in NBA Finals conversations for years to come.