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Basketball

How ‘Muralgate’ Explains the Mavericks’ Inner Workings

It's easy to beg the front office to get Luka Doncic a co-star. It's much harder to make that a reality.
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A symbol of fan frustration harmed more than helped. Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA season is a sprint and a marathon at the same time. Every team encounters drama at some point, from Draymond Green punching Jordan Poole to Kyrie Irving being suspended for promoting antisemitic propaganda to Nate McMillan threatening to resign over his battle with Trae Young. For the Mavericks, tensions sprang from an unlikely source: artwork. On Christmas Day, Dirk Nowitzki’s statue unveiling showed us how art can illuminate sports by capturing the essence of a player’s bond with his city.  Less than a month later, we saw how art can be a lightning rod for a team and its fan base with the emergence of “Muralgate.” 

The mural from Deep Ellum street artist Preston Pannek of Luka Doncic holding a sign saying “Please Send Help” went viral and expressed the annoyance many Mavericks fans are feeling during this rollercoaster season.  

As someone who worked in the front office, I want to outline where I believe the mural got it wrong and illuminate the reality of how things work in the building and around the league. The mural is a symbol of frustration gone awry.

To be clear, I am all for passionate fans expressing themselves however they see fit, whether it be positive or negative. I am not here to carry water for the organization, and anyone who has seen my analysis on Bally Sports or heard me on The Ticket or the Take Dat Wit You podcast will know I do not hold back in my own criticism when I believe it is warranted. What I do expect, however, are reasoned takes that have a basis in reality.  

The first issue comes from Pannek’s own email to Mark Cuban. (I’ll ignore the odd “Hi Cuban” opening.) Pannek, who initiated the contact with Cuban, wrote, “I put up the mural to motivate the Mavericks organization to…get Luka a Robin.” The idea that Cuban, Nico Harrison, and Jason Kidd need to be told what the issues are with their team and need to be spurred into action is preposterous. No one wants to win a championship more than this leadership group. 

The devil, as always, is in the details. As the February 9 trade deadline approaches, it is easy to input names into a trade machine and find a deal that works. But one must always think like the decision-makers–on both teams. Why would the other team make that deal? What is the true value of what the Mavericks are offering, both in terms of talent and contract terms? Is what you are getting back too financially burdensome for the skill level, thereby prohibiting further improvements? 

As The Athletic’s Tim Cato recently pointed out, there is a constant struggle to make moves for the present without hamstringing the future. (Ask the Timberwolves if they want a do-over on the Rudy Gobert acquisition.) The Mavericks have two first-round picks they can deal at the trade deadline (with two more available after the June draft).  Opportunity costs are real–in both directions. Staying stagnant for too long (like the Danny Ainge Celtics, who didn’t deal their picks from the Paul Pierce-Kevin Garnett trade) or making knee-jerk win-now moves that fail (the Pelicans with Anthony Davis) can set a franchise back. 

There is a sound argument to be made that the Western Conference has never been more wide open. That the Mavs should take advantage of it, especially when Doncic is turning in an MVP-worthy year. The issues are what is the deal and what is the price, today and tomorrow. As I pointed out on the 77 Minutes in Heaven podcast last July, when I sat in the room where the calls were made, we talked to every team, every day. Every player not named Dirk was bandied about in conversations, with varying degrees of intensity. There is a never-ending gauging of the market. Rest assured Harrison knows who is out there, and at what cost.

Fans also need to take a realistic view of the market. A year ago, when Kristaps Porzingis was traded, many thought the franchise had taken a step back. (Not me.) The prevalent view was that the Mavs should have gotten more for him. The reality is that after canvassing the league, the front office received only the offer from Washington, and another from Toronto, which was eventually pulled. If the Mavs believed it was the best time to move on from Porzingis, then this was the deal–buy low on Spencer Dinwiddie in hopes that a new environment would bring out the best in him. And it has. Thinking like the one making the decision and looking at it from all sides with a realistic view of the landscape can provide a clearer lens to make judgments.

The other issue with the mural is one I believe went overlooked: it put Doncic in an uncomfortable position in the minds of both his teammates and the fans. Words were artistically put into his mouth, and saying nothing might indicate that he endorses this view. He was forced to take action so that those he goes to battle with know he has their backs, even if he tells them that daily. Doncic is not only this team’s best player but also its leader, and he has grown tremendously in this role this season, as Cuban told me on The Ticket on Christmas Day.  Doncic, through his representatives, reached out to Pannek asking if the sides could work together on a new piece, better representative of his stance. (This idea has since been shelved.) Doncic has gone out of his way to praise teammates in postgame interviews, and Cuban has said he has received no demands from Doncic for roster changes. 

Again, think like the person calling the shots: what do you expect Cuban to say to that email? If you were the owner, would you throw your players under the bus? Not only does it kill your trust in the locker room, but it also undermines any value your players have around the league, even if Cuban has always said the Mavs will strive to be “opportunistic” when possible.

Muralgate is indicative of the normal and understandable angst fans feel when their team isn’t on the mountaintop. Emotion and passion are a part of sports, and expressing that is what it means to be a fan.  Everyone wants to experience that 2011 feeling again, no one more so than Cuban, Doncic, Harrison and Kidd. We may disagree with decisions and tactics, but we shouldn’t get confused and channel our angst into thinking there is apathy inside the building.

The only thing harder than finding a superstar is building a roster around him smartly. Progress isn’t linear; just ask Dirk. That perspective will help us use our “art” in ways we witnessed on Christmas Day rather than what we saw in January. Dirk got it right when he decided the extra basketballs weren’t needed on his statue. And Pannek got it right when he painted over the mural. 

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Brian Dameris

Brian Dameris

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Brian Dameris writes about the Mavericks for StrongSide. He is the former Director of Basketball Development for the Dallas Mavericks…

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