"Curse of Luka Doncic trade will last 77 years on that franchise": Fans notice surreal coincidence as Mavs' season ends 77 days after titanic trade
The Dallas Mavericks made one of the biggest trades in NBA history when they moved superstar guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. General manager Nico Harrison and the organization received an extraordinary amount of backlash from fans who were beside themselves after losing one of the franchise's best players ever.
After losing to the Memphis Grizzlies in the final game of the Play-In Tournament, Mavericks fans pointed out an ominous coincidence. Dallas' season ended 77(Doncic's jersey number) days after they made the trade sending Luka Doncic away. The parallels between Doncic and the rest of the Mavericks' season have been eerily present in the second half of the season.
Dallas fans took to Instagram on Saturday morning to react to the timing of the end of their 2024-25 season. After enduring two and a half months full of injuries up and down their roster, a bittersweet return to Dallas for Luka Doncic and falling just short of a playoff birth, Mavericks fans drew a disturbing connection all the way back to their former centerpiece.
One fan went as far as to say that the Dallas Mavericks' bad luck will continue for 77 years, nodding to Doncic's jersey number as Dallas enters a murky offseason.
"Curse of Luka Doncic trade will last 77 years on that franchise," commented one fan.
"Nico should be fired 77 hours later," said another, calling for the general manager's job.
"Crazy how they had championship aspirations at the start of the season and blew it up," pointed out one fan, marvelling at how far the team has fallen.
"Getting KD is the only thing Nico can do to recover," said another fan, hoping that Harrison can bring in the star forward.
Los Angeles Lakers fans, on the other hand, were grateful, thanking Harrison for making the move.
"Thank you Nico single handedly saved me from the trama of playing the nuggets," said one fan.
"Nico Harrison best Lakers GM in history," commented another.
"Nico= Laker Legend," joked one Lakers fan.
How can the Dallas Mavericks move on from the Luka Doncic era this offseason?
Nico Harrison defended his decision to trade Luka Doncic in a rather strange press conference held before the 9-10 games in the Play-In Tournament. He defended the trade, repeating the phrase "defenses win championships" when asked about the controversial move. One thing is clear; Harrison has his work cut out for him this offseason.
The Dallas Mavericks are in a tough spot as they wait for Kyrie Irving to recover from a torn ACL. They need to make the most of his and Anthony Davis' talent in the short term, pushing their chips to the middle of the table now instead of building for the future. One of the players that have been tied to Dallas in trade rumors for months is Kevin Durant.
Durant and the Phoenix Suns have agreed to seek out trades this offseason after another disappointing season. Durant played with Irving when they were with the Brooklyn Nets and has a friendship with Davis they formed while playing for Team USA in international competition. That potential trio of stars would need to bear fruit for Harrison, who is on arguably the hottest seat in the NBA.