Many people from the Los Angeles area are thrilled with the blockbuster trade that made former Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic a member of the Lakers over the weekend.
Jacob Posner is not one of those people.
That’s because the Palisades Charter High School graduate is a diehard Mavericks fan — and he became one because of Doncic.
“When Luka came into the league and became a Mavs [player], I immediately was like, ‘That’s my guy and I wanna be a Mavs fan,’” Posner told CBS News Texas from a hotel room in Sicily, Italy, this week.
A 20-year-old Dartmouth student who is in Rome to learn Italian, Posner came up with an idea to help himself and other Mavericks express their frustration toward general manager Nico Harrison and the Adelson family, the team’s controlling owner.
“Our plan is to cover the area around the American Airlines Center … with protest billboards, letting the front office know that Dallas Deserves Better when it comes to team decisions,” Posner wrote on the GoFundMe page he started this week to raise money toward the cause.
“Trading away Luka Magic has left a deep void in the hearts of Dallas fans. By banding together for this billboard campaign, we’re sending a strong, undeniable message to the Mavs front office: We refuse to be overlooked, and we deserve better decisions.”
At 25, Doncic is considered one of the NBA’s best players. A five-time All-Star, he finished third in the league’s MVP voting last year and helped the Mavericks make the NBA Finals.
News broke late Saturday of the trade that sent Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to L.A. in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and the Lakers’ 2029 first-round draft pick (the Utah Jazz also received Jalen Hood-Schifino from the Lakers and second-round picks from L.A. and Dallas to facilitate the trade).
Harrison told reporters Tuesday that the team was looking to get “out ahead” of what might have been tough negotiations with Doncic this summer over a supermax extension that would have been worth nearly $350 million over five seasons. It also has been reported that the Mavericks had concerns over Doncic’s diet and conditioning.
Ultimately, Harrison said, the responsibility for the decision belongs with him. Posner and other fans want him to know that they’re not cool with it.
“Nico Harrison and the Adelson family have done the unthinkable — trading away our beloved Luka Doncic to the Lakers in exchange for an injury-riddled Anthony Davis and just one first-round pick,” Posner wrote. “One pick!!! As a huge Dallas Mavericks fan, I’m reeling from the shock, frustration, and sorrow this trade has brought to our community.”
Posner is asking Mavericks fans to submit designs for the billboards. He has created an Instagram account @dallasdeservesbetter (its bio simply reads, “Protesting the worst trade in history”) where he will post photos and updates as the project progresses.
As of late Thursday afternoon, the campaign had raised more than $37,000 toward Posner’s stated goal of $82,600, an amount he determined after researching the cost of renting billboards that are available around the arena. He wrote Thursday on GoFundMe that he’s working to get the first billboards up before the Mavericks’ next home game, Saturday against the Houston Rockets.
“Whatever amount we raise is going straight to billboards,” Posner wrote, “whether we come in short, meet it, or surpass it. One way or another, these billboards are happening.”
