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We’re already in year four of the Luka Doncic experience, but the Dallas Mavericks have yet to truly capitalize on having the NBA‘s best young talent on their roster. True, the Mavs have made consecutive trips to the postseason, but they were dropped in Round 1 on both occasions by the LA Clippers.
Some of the league’s more cynical fanbases may have been left reeling by the slow progress. However, Mavs fans look to be long-haulers who are willing to buy the ticket and take the ride.
According to a new study, the Mavericks boast one of the most supportive fanbases in the Association in terms of positive sentiment after both wins and losses.
Mavs Fans’ Consistent Positivity
Per a WSN study on fair-weather fandom, the Dallas Mavericks have the fourth-most “consistently positive” fans in the entire NBA. Fifty percent of the fan comments logged for the study after Dallas wins were positive in nature. After Mavs losses, that number actually increased to 52%.
It should be noted, though, that there was still a 4% increase in overall negativity, as the number of neutral comments dropped from 32% to 24%, while negative posts increased from 18% to 24%.
Chicago Bulls fans were deemed to be most consistently positive due to a 6% jump (from 41% to 47%) in positive comments after losses. However, the teams with the highest positive-comment percentage after wins were the Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76ers at 63%, while the Toronto Raptors came in at 55% positive after losses.
The Charlotte Hornets fanbase had the largest negative swing when the team lost. Just 30% of comments after Hornets losses were positive compared to 61% after wins. Meanwhile, negative comments nearly quadrupled from 11% to 40%.
Comments were pulled from posts on official team Facebook pages that reported on team’s wins and losses during the 2020-21 season. The data was collected in July of 2021 and included more than 100,000 fan responses. WSN used the SentiStrength tool to determine the emotional tones (positive, negative or neutral) of posts.
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Ntilikina Has His Best Game of the Season
Things haven’t quite gone according to plan in Frank Ntilikina’s NBA career. After getting selected No. 8 overall by the New York Knicks in 2017 he never shot better than 39.3% from the floor or averaged more than 6.3 points per game in the Big Apple. As a result, the Mavs were able to pick him up off the scrap heap for just $3.8 million over two years.
The French baller is still just 23 years old, however, and he has already flashed his potential on multiple occasions for Dallas. The Mavericks’ Halloween night victory over the Sacramento Kings was his best overall effort to date, though.
In 20 minutes of play, Ntilikina scored a season-high 12 points on 4-of-6 from the floor and 2-for-2 from distance. He also added three boards, two assists and a steal, while playing solid defense throughout the night.
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