Luka Doncic makes his return to Dallas on Wednesday night for the first time since the Dallas Mavericks traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers two months ago.
In preparation for their former star player coming back to the American Airlines Center, the Mavericks decided to flood the arena with shirts on the seats to pay homage to Doncic's time on the team. The shirts say "Thanks for everything" in Slovenian.
NBA teams aren't allowed to use the name, image or likeness of players who are no longer on the roster, meaning the Mavericks couldn't use Doncic in any specific way when designing the shirts. This was a way for the team to have a general Doncic tribute without using his name or anything else to directly identify him.
Thank you for everything.#MFFL pic.twitter.com/ZpM0mP3EOQ
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) April 9, 2025
It'll be interesting to see how Mavericks fans react to these shirts in the arena on Wednesday night since the trade itself wasn't very popular amongst the fandom. Some fans protested outside of American Airlines Center shortly after the trade was announced.
The expected disdain in the arena on Wednesday night will likely be geared towards Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison as he's the one who initiated the Doncic trade. We'll see what happens to most of these shirts once the night is over.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mavs Show Off Special Shirts for Luka Doncic’s Dallas Return With Lakers.
