Mark Cuban's distraught reaction to "Fire Nico" chants leaves fans blaming him in Luka Doncic's return

In Wednesday night's return to Texas, Luka Doncic gave the Dallas Mavericks a masterclass and a reminder of what they lost. The Slovenian superstar was moved to tears when the fan base embraced him before the start of the game, and he was a man on a mission from the tip-off, scoring 31 points in the first half alone.

Mavs fans rallied to support their former franchise player, and, unsurprisingly, it didn't take long before they expressed their anger towards general manager Nico Harrison, who traded him to the LA Lakers.

Fans started chanting 'Fire Nico' midway through the game. Notably, former team owner Mark Cuban, sitting courtside wearing an Anthony Davis jersey, didn't like that one bit.

The 66-year-old business mogul buried his head in his hands and looked angry afterward. Needless to say, it didn't take long before the fans took notice of that, and they shared their thoughts about it on social media.

Some of the fans even blamed Cuban for this situation:

"I don’t understand why he gets upset about it. It’s a free lesson from the people he supposedly cares about," one fan added.

"You signed the deal @mcuban. idk why you’re pissed off," another fan said.

"Or maybe he’s as upset with the state of the Mavs as the rest of Dallas is…?" one fan asked. "Who knows? Nico still sucks. Cuban should have stuck his foot down."

Other fans weren't as harsh, and they think there's more to this story than what's been reported.

"It's almost like he knows something he can't tell us," another one speculated.

"I’m starting to feel that this came down from the league and Nico is the fall guy," one fan said.

The Mavericks eventually lost to the Lakers 112-97, with Doncic putting up 45 points, eight rebounds, six assists, four steals and seven 3-pointers.

Mark Cuban says the Adelsons didn't hold their end of the deal

Mark Cuban sold his majority stake in the Mavericks to casino and real estate moguls Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont. However, he was reportedly set to stay in control of basketball-related decisions.

That's why, even though some accused Cuban of being partly responsible for the Doncic trade, the renowned millionaire wanted to make it loud and clear that he would've never okayed that move.

Replying to a lengthy post on Facebook about how he should be "run out of town," Cuban clarified that the NBA didn't allow him to put a clause about keeping control of basketball operations in the sell contract.

"I fully expected to run basketball. The NBA wouldn’t let me put it in the contract. They took it out," Cuban wrote on Facebook. "I thought [the Adelsons] would stick to their word because they didn’t know the first thing about running a team. Someone obviously changed their mind."

Cuban reportedly tried to kill the deal, but it was too late already. Now, the Mavericks will have to deal with the consequences and ripple effect of one of the most controversial transactions in NBA history.