Dallas Mavericks fans have directed their ire at general manager Nico Harrison since the trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. A pair of fans who were recently thrown out of a game for chanting “Fire Nico” got free courtside seats from minority owner Mark Cuban.
In an interview with WFAA, Mavericks fans Chris Taylor and Garrett Bussey shared an account of what happened when they were ejected from American Airlines Center on Monday. During the second half of Monday’s loss to the Sacramento Kings, the pair chanted, “Fire Nico.”
According to Taylor, the chants led to a verbal altercation with Cuban, who was a couple dozen rows in front of them. After that, Taylor and Bussey were escorted out of the venue.
Mavericks fan removed from game after mouthing ‘fire Nico’ on jumbotron in protest of Luka Doncic trade
Sam Quinn
“I feel like they shattered my identity as a fan,” Taylor said.
Taylor feels as though the Doncic trade was a deep cut for the fan base, and they want the ability to express that without the risk of being ejected from games.
“We’re not happy with what happened, and we should have a right to voice that,” Taylor said.
In a statement to WFAA, Cuban said the two fans were causing commotion while the Mavs were shooting free throws in “crunch time.” Cuban claims his frustration stemmed from the timing of the fans’ outburst, and it was less about what they were saying.
“I didn’t care what he was saying,” Cuban said. “He was saying it the whole game. I cared that fans were booing him while we had the ball in crunch time or were shooting FTs. The time when they should be silent, or cheering for the Mavs, that was it.”
In an attempt to extend an olive branch, Cuban gave Taylor and Bussey free courtside seats for Wednesday’s 111-107 win over the Golden State Warriors.
While the pair didn’t get to watch Doncic in a Mavericks uniform, they did get front-row seats to watch Kyrie Irving drop 42 points on Golden State. Perhaps that eased the sting of their ejection just a couple days earlier.
