Luka Dončić’s first career matchup against the Dallas Mavericks took center stage on Tuesday night.
And perhaps no image encapsulated the emotions of the All-Star guard facing the team that traded him like the one that the Basketball Forever X account posted during the game.
In the photo, Dončić can be seen on the court seemingly glaring at Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison, who was sitting in the stands. Meanwhile, the architect of the most shocking trade in NBA history is staring back at the 25-year-old with a look indicating that there’s no love lost between the two.
“Cold,” indeed.
The only problem? The picture is clearly fake.
As noted by WFAA sports anchor Jonah Javad, the viral photo possesses multiple red flags, including the reality that the lighting at Crypto.com Arena makes it unlikely such a photo could even be possible. It’s also worth noting that there haven’t been any other indications that Harrison was seated in the stands for the game, although he was wearing the same blue suit while standing near the court during Dončić’s pregame warmups.
Factor in that Dončić’s fade haircut in the photo hardly matches how it looked during the actual game and that Harrison’s suit features a logo for Basketball Forever — an account that routinely posts obviously photoshopped pictures — and it seems clear the image isn’t authentic. Nevertheless, the photo proceeded to go viral, garnering 1.5 million views and more than 6,500 retweets, many of which portrayed the picture as real.
Among those to promote the picture as legitimate were Athlon Sports and DraftKings’ official X account. And it apparently caught the eye of ESPN NBA analyst Jay Williams, who took to X to provide a thorough breakdown of the faux photo as if the moment actually happened.
Look at this moment—Luka’s laser-focused glare, like he’s channeling MJ. Nico is sitting there in that blue suit, which feels like it represents the Mavericks’ front office, but Luka’s stare isn’t just about the game—it’s personal. Luka’s in his own world, locked in, reminding… pic.twitter.com/NTdI9DdAma
— Jay Williams (@RealJayWilliams) February 26, 2025
Williams also referenced the picture on Wednesday’s episode of ESPN’s Get Up, once again treating it as real. To be fair to Williams, he was hardly the only one fooled. And despite its flaws, the picture is a fairly impressive edit.
Not everybody, however, has an ESPN platform like Williams does. And while this is a relatively innocuous mistake, it does speak to a larger issue of media literacy in the era of social media.
After all, a quick check into the photo’s original source would have shown that it came from an account that routinely posts doctored photos. What are the odds that the same account would happen to nab what would have been one of the best pictures in sports history? And even then, how did so many people not notice red flags like Dončić’s haircut and the Basketball Forever logo on Harrison’s suit?
Seemingly, the edit was good enough that people were willing to overlook its obvious warning signs, in part because it helped further the narrative of Dončić’s messy breakup with the Mavericks. To that end, it’s worth noting that even nearly one month later, the trade remains so shocking that it’s often been difficult to differentiate its fiction from reality.