Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving Beef With OKC Thunder Fans in Dallas Mavericks Game 2 Win

Tempers were hot and people were talking as the Mavericks tied the series in Oklahoma City

Austin Veazey | May 10, 2024

May 7, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; An official talks to a fan after he heckled Dallas / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

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Chants rang of "Luka Sucks!" throughout Paycom Arena as Thursday night's Game 2 was coming to a close. In what started in Game 1, fans were pestering Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving throughout these first two games of the series and possibly taking things too far.

Very loud “Luka sucks” chants from the Paycom Center crowd. He’s had some fan interaction during this game. Usually not a good strategy for the opposition. pic.twitter.com/sqA1oagMqh
— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) May 10, 2024

Doncic is used to the heckling and usually thrives off it, saying to the media after the game "That's great for me. I love it. Just there was one guy courtside, going at my family. I don't like that, man. You're a grown a** man. Just can't do that. But I didn't do nothing. I just went back. Nothing. But just it's crazy. It's a grown a** man come at my family. It's kind of nuts."

The little things in Game 1 - fans throwing the ball away from Doncic when he's trying to inbound, the heckling and talking trash to him and Irving, etc - seemed to ramp up in Game 2. Irving went on a long rant after Game 2 about it, who has been as composed as anyone on Dallas.

"Yeah the fans threw the ball away from Luka... and he didn't even look at Luka eye to eye, and Luka was very nonchalant about it like he was very cool about it, and for a fan to do that, then that's my time to step in as a teammate and be like, what the f***? What the f*** are you doing? Excuse my language for that. I asked him, like, 'What are you doing?' This is not about you right now. You know, you're not even wearing the Thunder blue shirt. You're trying to distinguish yourself out here. You're trying to get on Twitter to stay active." Irving then continued "Like, I know, come on, that's our generation that we're in. Everybody's trying to go viral when they're at NBA games instead of focusing on the players and the task at hand. So, when you do that to my teammate, of course, I'm going to stand up... It was the same guys there. Different guys heckling, but little do they know that, that motivates us."

As Irving was walking to the locker room last night, he was quoted saying "It's truly Oklahoma, I'll tell you that," which should best be left up for interpretation but it certainly seems he's referencing how the fans were treating him and his team.

This even goes outside of the arena, as there was a fair amount of negative press leaving Game 1 surrounding Doncic. It wouldn't be surprising if he saw that, as well as OKC's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finishing ahead of him for MVP, and made a mental note.

Either way, Doncic and Irving are taking solace in the fact that they tied the series and can take this series back home. "We know how to quiet a crowd and us continuing to be physical," Irving said, "continuing to score baskets, and then at the end of the game in the fourth quarter, we can heckle them back."

It's a quick turnaround for Game 3, starting Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CST from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

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Published May 10, 2024

AUSTIN VEAZEY

Lead basketball writer; Former FSU Men's Basketball Manager from 2016-2019