The Dallas Mavericks Continue To Torture Their Own Fanbase By Releasing One Of The Most Horrendous A.I Hype Videos You'll Ever See

Ron Jenkins. Getty Images.

I know it seems like I write this exact blog pretty much every week, but what can I do? My hands are tied when it comes to the shitshow that has become the Dallas Mavericks. The fact that we're about 1.5 months out from the Luka trade and things still get worse with each passing day is truly remarkable. On the court, the Mavs continue to be a disaster. Now losers of 3 straight and 2-8 over their last 10 to fall to 33-36 and on the verge of falling out of the Play In, they can barely find enough healthy bodies to actually play these games. I can't ever remember a team being smited by the Basketball Gods quite like this

Nico Harrison did something biblical with that trade, it's the only explanation. Perhaps the Mavs losing to the G- League Sixers yesterday while former Mav Quentin Grimes went for 28 would be considered "rock bottom", but I have bad news. It gets even worse. 

Part of what has made this entire situation such a disaster for the Mavs is this stuff goes outside of just the on-the-court product. The PR decisions at every turn have only made things worse. Putting out a promo video while blacking out Luka, the owner coming out and gaslighting their own fanbase suggesting that this trade is actually going to cause fear into other teams, kicking fans out that mouth "FIRE NICO" on the jumbotron, raising ticket prices so they can have money to invest in the team and the fan experience despite spitting in the faces of those same fans.

It's a generational run, unlike anything we've ever seen before. It's all been so bad it truly feels like this is intentional. Nobody can willingly keep making such terrible decisions thinking any of these choices are good ideas. I simply refuse to believe this is possible, it has to be part of a larger plan to completely bury this organization. Considering this is all self-inflicted, it remains one of the most confusing things in recent NBA history.

Just think about it. The Mavs are now in this "new era" of their franchise. They somehow have to find a way to mend the relationship with he fanbase (no shot) while also finding ways to pump up and energize those who are still going to games. You know, that updated in game fan experience thing the Mavs mentioned?

This is now what that looks like

Yes, this is real. While watching this monstrosity, part of me thought this was maybe just the internet being the internet and clowning on the Mavs, until I saw the final frame

There is just no way. This is what I mean when I say everyone associated with the Mavs has to be in on this. It has to be intentional. How could so many people see that video and be like 

"Hell yeah, this is the perfect way to get our fans juiced up and excited!"

As someone who isn't even a Mavs fan, I couldn't help but cringe watching that thing. Just when you think the Mavs and their marketing department couldn't go any lower, they always find a new level of hell to put their fans through. I mean AD is pointing pistols at his own head! 

While the player part of the video is awful, it's not as if the song is all that much better. I'm no music expert, but that also sounded A.I generated. This feels more like something you see come from NBACentel as a way to troll online, so the fact that it's actually real is just a level of incompetence I didn't know existed. 

Also, we can just use player likeness in AI like this nowadays? That feels…..like a slippery slope. 

While the league office obviously doesn't give a shit about this because the end result was Luka ending up in LA and extending their contention for another decade, how can Adam Silver look at everything that's gone on with this organization and be OK with it? We are watching the value of a franchise crater right before our eyes, and nobody seems to give a shit. The Basketball Gods have already taken away all their players, the organization is kicking fans out left and right, and now they are doing shit like this so what, the Mavs can just continue to be crushed and trolled in terms of public perception?

Again, I can't ever remember seeing something like this.

The bad news of course, is there are no signs that this is going to get any better any time soon. Kyrie is going to miss pretty much all of next season (and who's to say he even signs his extension), I can't imagine the Mavs have asserted themselves as some sort of attractive free agent destination, so it might be decades before the Mavs recover from what has transpired over the last 6+ weeks.

It's one of the most generational runs to the bottom we've ever seen, and the fact that none of this even needed to happen in the first place is probably what makes it so insane.