09-04-2025
What do the Mavericks' Slovenian Luka Doncic t-shirts say for his Dallas return?
What do the Mavericks' Slovenian Luka Doncic t-shirts say for his Dallas return?
Luka Doncic will play the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas for the first time since the team that drafted him traded him away to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Fans were visibly upset with the Mavericks' front office after the deal. They held a fake funeral outside of the arena after the former Mavs star was traded. Inside the arena, Mavs fans raged. They chanted "Fire Nico," in reference to Mavs' GM Nico Harrison, who ultimately decided to move the star player to Los Angeles. They're also cancelling season tickets and no longer coming to games.
With Doncic coming back into American Airlines Center for the first time since the trade, the Mavericks thought it'd be a good time to generate some good will with the fans. So what'd they do? Give them t-shirts for Luka Doncic night.
The Mavs have Luka t-shirts?
Yes. They've decided to dish out t-shirts for the fans to wear to celebrate Doncic's return to the two months after the team decided to ship him out.
Does it make a ton of sense? Nope. Not at all. But, hey! Maybe the fans will be happy with this.
What do the shirts say?
This is where things get even funnier. ESPN's Tim McMahon took a picture of the shirts in the arena laid out across the fans' seats. The shirts say, "Hvala za vse" on them. If you guessed that that's Slovenian, you'd be absolutely correct.
What does it say? Thank you for everything.
Seriously??!?!?!
Folks. Yes. Check Google Translate. The audacity here from the Mavericks organization has to be respected. They really do have some nerve here. It's incredible.
Imagine thanking the guy who the organization decided couldn't win them a championship just a couple of months ago. The irony. They'd have been better off printing, "Hey. Sorry. We messed up." Or maybe the lyrics to Player's "Baby Come Back." I'm not sure. But thanking Luka for everything? That doesn't really make a ton of sense.
It's not like he chose to go away. If he'd had it his way, he'd probably still be in Dallas. It was a city that he seemed to love and one that clearly loved him back. The organization decided to cut ties early. That's on them.
I'm not sure the gratitude here will resonate with anyone in the building tonight.
