DALLAS — The tears stopped but the emotions didn’t.
Not for Luka Donu010diu0107, and not for the Dallas Mavericks fans who felt betrayed and wanted to show they didn’t endorse the organizational treachery that was performed by trading Donu010diu0107.
The loyalty, the feeling and the connection illustrated by so many fans who packed Dallas’ American Airlines Center was to Donu010diu0107 and not the franchise — perhaps because they don’t recognize what they see when the Mavericks step onto the floor every night.
But they recognized Donu010diu0107, even in purple and gold. Even in playing for the hated Lakers and coming out of that far tunnel opposed to the one across from the Mavericks bench — they knew him, grew with him and for the first time since that Saturday night in February, were able to honor him.