It’s tinfoil hat time in the Luka Doncic trade saga.
With Mavericks fans begging for answers as to why they traded their franchise star who brought them to the NBA Finals just nine months ago, an intriguing fan conspiracy theory has made the rounds on social media.
The crux of the theory, laid out in a lengthy social media essay by Christopher Kratovil, is centered around the Adelson family, the new Mavericks team owner who made a fortune in the gambling world as owners of the Sands Casino, who arrived to the NBA with the hope of building a new arena in Dallas-Fort Worth and making it a betting hub.
The issue for the Adelsons is that sports betting and gambling are not legal in Texas, and despite their hardest and most expensive lobbying efforts with Lone Star state politicians, it appears that the latest bill will again fail in 2025.
“The Adelson’s need more leverage to get a gambling bill through the #txlege. But they already donate more money to TX politicians than literally anyone else, and they employ dozens of good lobbyists,” the essay writes. “So where the carrot has failed, they need a stick. That stick is the threat to move the Mavs to Vegas unless they get what they want.”
The Adelsons –– who own and operate casinos in the Venetian hotels, Sands Casinos in Las Vegas and Pennsylvania, and several Macao locations in China –– could have a home in Las Vegas given their stability in Sin City.
The NBA has long been expected to enter Las Vegas when it inevitably expands from 30 to 32 teams.
In this conspiracy theory, the Mavs’ new owners, who bought the team from Mark Cuban in 2024, don’t necessarily care about the team and instead want the gambling revenue they were expecting to get out of the purchase.
A new bill was introduced in Texas on Jan. 14, 2025, and Texas legislators will reconvene to vote on legalizing sports betting, but it is not expected to pass, barring some changes in heart from key government voices and delegates.
The final bit of leverage that the Mavericks owners may need is to tank the team and incite so much rage in fans that they are no longer welcome in Dallas.
Well, that part is already complete, as the Mavericks lost 700,000 followers on Instagram after trading their star scorer, and fans flooded the American Airlines Center with protests of the trade and decision-makers.
Ringer founder Bill Simmons said on his most recent podcast that he had heard of this conspiracy theory already and loved it.
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“There is also some incredible conspiracy stuff on this already,” Simmons said. “God only knows what’s true, half true, 10 percent true. I love this one. That the owners have always wanted the Vegas team and their eventual goal is to basically flip franchises, move Dallas to Vegas so they can have their whole casino thing. The expansion team that was going to go in Vegas will now be the Dallas team. They would pay whatever, and the first way to do this was to basically torpedo the Mavericks franchise relationship with their fans by trading Luka Doncic.”
“I have no notes; this is the best conspiracy theory I have ever heard,” he said while laughing.
It’s an interesting thought experiment, with Mavericks fans already befuddled and livid with team ownership.
For at least one fan, things are going according to plan.
This story originally appeared on NY Post
