At this point, it would be hard to blame anyone for coming to the conclusion that the Dallas Mavericks will never climb out of this pit. The Luka Doncic trade, which only gets more shocking and stupid as time goes on, is the biggest piece of evidence in support of such a conclusion, but so is the fact that the entire organization has subsequently become snakebitten and overcome by an oafish spirit. Nothing good happens to this team anymore, and it can do nothing right.
Even the in-arena entertainment is suffering. Fans who attended Sunday’s game against the 76ers—a 130-125 loss in which Quentin Grimes, the other guy the Mavs traded away at the deadline, led the Sixers with 28 points—were treated to a pregame hype video that can only be described as nightmarish. For more than 90 seconds, the jumbotron was taken over by AI-generated facsimiles of various Mavericks players pulling uncanny and haunting expressions while skittering and jerking across the screen.
One wonders what prompts were fed into the AI model that created this video. Was the phrase “should give the impression that a message from Satan can be heard if played backward” used? What about “should feel as instinctively revolting to a human being as a box full of snakes”?
If this video’s very existence is evidence that the Mavericks organization has essentially given up, then so too is the fact that the front office seems to be bending over backward not to talk about it. I sent emails to all four members of the Mavericks public relations staff listed in the NBA blue book, and left voice messages on each of their cell phones. I just wanted answers to some basic questions, such as “Who made this video?” and “Why was it made?” and “Were you guys aware of the fact that it features a moment in which Anthony Davis points a gun at his own head?” I have yet to receive any kind of response.
