On Friday, the Dallas Mavericks posted a new hype video on their YouTube channel to get fans excited about the second half of the 2024-25 season. Instead, the video only brought controversy after several outlets accused the organization of covering up former Mavericks star Luka Dončić throughout the video.
In the video, which featured a voiceover from local hip-hop artist Dorrough, several prominent Mavericks players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and Klay Thompson were naturally featured extensively.
However, the decision to blur out players on three different occasions (0:59), (1:14), and (1:52), and cover them up with Mavericks logos throughout the video led to speculation that the Mavericks were trying to blur out images of Dončić purposely.
Several outlets, including Yahoo Sports and Dime, publically ran with the narrative that the Mavericks tried to cover up any sight of Dončić.
The Mavs’ new hype video hilariously tries to cover up any images of Luka Doncic https://t.co/KspGozbcby
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) February 21, 2025
The Mavericks censor Luka Dončić in a team-released video 👀😬
(via @dallasmavs) pic.twitter.com/H8e9PvwnAX
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) February 21, 2025
Considering that the Mavericks opted to eject fans who chose to protest the highly discussed trade with the Lakers to acquire Anthony Davis and get rid of Luka Dončić in the game following the move, it perhaps wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume that the Mavericks solely blurred out Dončić to further make fans forget about the deal.
However, this is not the case. WFAA, an ABC affiliate in Dallas, took a deep dive into finding the context behind the highlights in the hype video where players were blurred out. None of them were Dončić, although interestingly, the blurred players did include Quentin Grimes and Maxi Kleber, who were both dealt at the deadline.
What further disproves this conspiracy is that Dončić is actually shown in the background of a Kyrie Irving highlight unblurred 47 seconds into the video. So clearly, if they were focused solely on blurring out Luka Dončić, they did a pretty poor job of doing so…
Maybe the Mavericks video team thought having players blurred out was a cool design that added to the video’s aesthetic. Or perhaps the video strategically blurred out players who were dealt at the deadline.
Either way, it is quite clear that Luka Dončić wasn’t the lone target in this video, as Yahoo Sports or Dime seem to suggest.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.