Mavericks' humiliating stunt proves there's no love left for Luka Doncic

Ever since Luka Doncic was traded from the Dallas Mavericks on February 1, the Mavericks and their management have done everything in their power to distance themselves from Doncic and his time in Dallas, barring Doncic's April 9 homecoming game, where fans were deservingly able to give Doncic his flowers.

The dynamic of Nico Harrison and Dallas' upper brass trying to distance themselves from Doncic started when they removed key members of Dallas' staff that Doncic was preferential toward. Even after finally trading Doncic, Patrick Dumont and Harrison have made multiple back-handed comments in regard to Doncic, making the optics of the situation look even worse from a media perspective.

Even at the end of August, the Mavericks continue to throw shade at Doncic, even if in a subtle fashion. Doncic has long been an avid player of the video game Overwatch, and he was recently featured in an advertisement campaign for the new Overwatch 2 game. However, the Mavericks took offense to this because an electronic billboard of Doncic's advertisement was placed right next to the American Airlines Center in Victory Plaza.

Mavericks elect to remove Luka Doncic's Overwatch 2 ad campaign

Supposedly, this request did not come from Dallas' management or any of their higher-ups, which would make sense considering how low on the totem pole this likely ease in terms of the front office's priorities. The Mavericks simply asked for the advertisement to be relocated, and while this makes sense from a PR perspective, given the obvious disconnect that has taken place between the franchise and Doncic, this is yet another move that will not sit well with many Mavericks fans.

While the Mavericks were extremely lucky to draw the No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg in this recent draft, many fans are operating with a sense of caution when it comes to trusting the franchise once again, and many of these same fans still have lots of love for Doncic. The Mavericks are putting themselves in a bind by continuing to throw shade at Doncic, even if it's subtle jabs like this, as most fans would rather just move on and not have to hear their favorite team continually shun a superstar who brought the city of Dallas immense joy.

All this will do is provide Doncic another reason to get even more riled up the next time he plays the Mavericks, and this time, he'll likely be coming into this contest in some of the best shape of his life. At this point, all Mavericks fans can do is laugh at the stupid slights the organization continues to throw at Doncic, as these theatrics don't seem like they'll be coming to an end for as long as Doncic is a Los Angeles Laker.

The best course of action would've been for the Mavericks to not throw hate at Doncic on his way out the door, but Dallas is well past that point now, as Harrison's main reasoning for trading Doncic was because of Doncic's own inadequacies when it came to his defense and off-court habits. While the city of Dallas and many of their fans will follow Doncic's career with great interest, the Mavericks are proving there's no love left for Doncic from their perspective.