Turning the page

[SleepingHero]

Hi there, first time poster , reader for years.

You all need to come down and think about if you are a mavericks fan or just a luka fan boy.
Im from germany so i know some things about going with your team from bottom to top. Im a life long Gladbach fan on the soccer part so google if you dont know ithe team on the german soccer league.

There are ups and down throughout  fandom.

I was a lifelong fan of dirk sice i grew up with him conquering NA sports.
I was privileged as many of you to see the greatness of dirk for years and i have seen the whole championchip run from half around the world live just to be witness of the greatness.
I cried a lot when he achieved the ultimate goal.
BUT i was a mavs fan also and will stick with them till the end of time wheter there is a german player or not.
All those years of Dirk it was about the team and not about Dirk. So i will stick with his legacy. Its about Dallas and the team and not Luka or about Kyrie or anything.

Now is the time to button up! Dallas fan or Luka fan.

We all question whether Nico made the right decicion or not but only time will tell. Maybe Luka will be hurt half as the time as a Laker, maybe not. I believe in guys like Dereck Lively
a young man who has faced adversitiy early on in his life over Luka, who had had the advantage of beeing more talented than all of his peers for all his live all of the time.
Better be a hard working looser ,than the privileged winner. And´i guess Lively will win out after all since he builds a culture for years, just like Dirk did.

Hi! Welcome! 

Thanks for bringing the heat with your first post. I appreciate your different positive outlook. But I don't think I can share in that optimistic mindset. 

I agree that there are ups and downs in fandom in general. I was there in the 90s with this team. I was there throughout Dirk's entire journey. And alas I was there for Luka's journey. 

I am a Mavs fan. But never, in the history of any major sport in America, was there a betrayal like this to a fanbase from the team itself. We are accustomed to stars in the NBA betraying the fanbase by asking out and blowing up the team. Lebron and KD paved the way the last decade and a half and made the NBA feel more like a game of musical chairs with guys switching teams.

But Luka was different. Luka, like Dirk, was loyal to Dallas and its fans. But the Mavs front office was not loyal to Luka or its fans. And they had no better explanation than to say this move would help the team win "now", ignoring that the Mavs were on the doorstep of the ultimate prize not just 8 months ago. 

This isn't an easy one to get over. It was an unprecedented trade and an even unprecedented return for what should've been the most or 2nd most valuable trade asset in the NBA. And what's worse, the only way this trade doesn't become the most embarrassing stain ever in the NBA is if Luka breaks down and becomes a shell of himself. I don't want to root for that scenario. 

I am still a Mavs fan, but this move makes me question if the Mavericks right now are the organization I fell in love with and became a fan of. We'll see.