Doncic, who had dragged an otherwise unremarkable Mavericks team through the Western Conference, became the face of their failure. Dallas coach Jason Kidd was forced to come out and defend his maligned star, even though without Doncic, the Mavericks were a faded Kyrie Irving and a bunch of role players.

It's been a few days, but the passionate – okay, let's call it angry – reaction from Mavericks fans to the Luka Doncic trade to the Lakers is not easing. Some would say that fan resentment toward team management is still brewing.