"Back to poverty, thanks to Nico" - Fans react after Mavericks lose 2nd national TV game in post-Luka Doncic era

On Tuesday, the Dallas Mavericks lost 107-99 to the LA Lakers, which TNT aired. This marked their second consecutive loss aired on national television.

Before the Lakers game, Dallas suffered a 126-102 loss against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday. The game, aired on ESPN, coincided with the Warriors' retirement of Andre Iguodala's No. 9 jersey.

On Wednesday, NBA insider Grant Afseth reported on X (formerly Twitter) that ESPN has decided not to air the Mavs' game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Instead, they've picked up the game between the OKC Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies.

Since the Mavs traded Luka Doncic, the team has lost two nationally televised games.

After fans saw the update, they blamed who was at fault for the team losing the privilege to have their games aired on national television.

"Back to poverty, thanks to Nico. 😂" a fan blamed the Mavs' general manager.

"No Luka. No reason to watch. Mavs org sabotaged their cash cow. Makes no sense," another fan commented.

"Was Nico’s plan to get his team kicked off national televised games? Success! 😂" one fan pointed out.

Other fans talked about the relevancy of the Dallas franchise now that Doncic isn't on the team.

"Relevancy gone reduced to atoms," a fan said.

"We can say goodbye to Christmas games now too," another fan said.

"Im crying luka took the mavs relevancy with him," one fan commented.

Luka Doncic had an emotional night after he faced the Mavericks

Luka Doncic's first time playing against his former team was a game that was highly anticipated by many. Given the narrative around the situation, everyone was emotional, especially Doncic. Fortunately for the former Mavericks star, he got his focus in the game and led the Lakers to a win, thanks to his first triple-double with his new team.

The Slovenian star recorded 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. The five-time All-Star also had three steals and shot 6-for-17 from the field.

After the game, Doncic talked about his emotions during the game.

“It’s so weird, the moments,” he said. “I don’t know what I was doing. I’m just glad we got the win.”

The Lakers and Mavs will meet again before the 2024-25 NBA season concludes. Their final matchup on April 9 at the American Airlines Center will be Doncic's first game in Dallas since the trade.