We often hear the phrase “the NBA is a business” uttered when a player is dealt to justify the emotional departure. The NBA is a business, but it is a business built on fandom. Once upon a time, franchises and players were equivalent. The Bulls were Michael Jordan, the Lakers were Magic Johnson, the Heat were Dwyane Wade, and hell, the Dallas Mavericks were Dirk Nowitzki. There used to be a symbiotic relationship between a city and its team’s superstar.

This changed when LeBron James went to Miami in 2010, and his player empowerment movement made the loyal stars few and far between. Despite the constant change around the league, Dallas seemed like a haven for home-grown talent. Dirk Nowitzki played 21 years for the Mavericks and passed the torch to Luka Doncic who took the mantle of franchise cornerstone. Then, just after 11 PM Saturday, every fan in DFW and around the world was reminded of the harsh reality: the word untouchable is all smoke and mirrors.

It was a perfect storm of the fans’ desires and the front office’s desires being so perpendicular that the clash at the intersection created a fiery inferno seen across every reach of the internet. The new ownership group views the team as an asset. The Mavericks are an investment to them and nothing more, and they have empowered Nico Harrison to move pieces in whatever way he thinks is conducive to winning. It is abundantly clear now that this move was purely a business decision. Harrison, for whatever reason, did not think Doncic was the guy most fit for them to win in his perceived championship window and moved him for a guy who he thinks fits the bill. He sold us on loyalty but failed to mention that loyalty wasn’t to Luka Doncic.

This isn’t unlike how any other business is run. If the person in charge believes they’re better off without someone then they let them go. The NBA’s goal is to make a profit, as is the Mavericks’ ownership. This move will likely do that for both parties, but it comes at the expense of every fan. That has to mean something. At some point, the business of basketball has to go past a line where the plot is lost and the organization wakes up.

Fans go to games and buy merchandise to build a connection with the team and its players, particularly the star. There’s an invaluable journey they take as they grow together. Doncic was 19 when he arrived in Dallas and now he departs just before his 26th birthday. There are thousands, maybe millions, of people who have watched countless hours of games and devoted years of their lives to watching the Mavericks under the notion that they would be able to experience the ups and downs of Doncic’s career with him until he inevitably brought them a championship or did as much as he could to do so. Years of emotional investment were thrown away in the dead of night in a business deal. A bad one, I might add.

This trade is now a cautionary tale of how devaluing the fandom too much can truly sever a relationship the organization and the fans build over decades. It was a clear-cut power trip; Harrison got so enthralled with the idea that he could be the organization’s savior, not Doncic, that he punted on a bright future with a beloved star because it wasn’t the future he wanted. It was almost as if Harrison blacked out and did not feel the gravity of his decision until it was too late. He burned an ecosystem of international fans, small businesses, families, and lifelong fans that all revolved around cheering for Luka Doncic, the Dallas Maverick. The direction of the franchise is now in question and the free agency implications are endless. Everything good the Mavericks were building was relinquished in a second, behind closed doors. This was a corporate decision that was blinded by a lack of input from other parties and fueled by a disdain for the team’s star player. This horrid mix blurred the line between business and the purpose of a basketball organization. Harrison viewed Doncic as a replaceable asset while everyone else viewed him as an irreplaceable human being.

Luka Doncic is a Laker and that is a tough pill to swallow. It still does not feel real and may not ever be an acceptable reality. A lot of coping is going to be needed for years to come. The Mavericks may win and they probably will lose, but no outcome will ever change what the trade was at its core: a deal formulated and agreed upon by Nico Harrison but not the Mavericks fans. And, like in most deals of this magnitude, the brass got what they wanted, and the consumer was left feeling helpless, frustrated, and confused.