Rivals Week Fan Heckling Incident

On January 24, 2024, the Suns and Mavericks met in Dallas during the NBA’s Rivals Week, a slate designed to spotlight marquee matchups. Phoenix controlled the night, winning 132-109. During the game, Luka Doncic motioned to security and pointed out a Suns-jersey fan whom he said had been heckling him persistently. The Dallas Morning News reported Doncic’s explanation afterward: “Because he was cursing me the whole first half, too,” and, “I never would eject a fan... but I had enough” [7]. The incident did not involve Devin Booker directly, but it unfolded within the specific context of Suns–Mavericks games, which since 2022 have regularly produced viral exchanges and heightened emotions. The courtside fan attention fit that pattern. Brad Townsend’s game story described the Mavericks’ frustration with officiating and the team’s quick unraveling against a rival opponent, giving the fan moment added texture: tempers were frayed, and the environment was edgy as Phoenix coasted to a comfortable road win [7]. While no technical fouls or ejections stemming from the fan were noted in the coverage, the episode underscored how this matchup’s heat extends beyond the players—into the stands and into the discourse that follows each meeting.

This episode shows the rivalry’s spillover effects. Even when Booker and Doncic weren’t the ones jawing at each other, the environment around Suns–Mavericks games in 2024 remained intense enough that Doncic felt compelled to involve security over a heckling Suns fan [7]. In narrative terms, it sustained the throughline from 2022–2023: matchups between these teams tend to produce conflict-adjacent moments that draw attention well beyond the final score. It also added a Dallas-based datapoint to a rivalry often defined by Phoenix moments (the 2022 quotes and Game 7), demonstrating that tension travels with the matchup regardless of venue [1][2][3][7].

The night ended uneventfully from a disciplinary perspective, but the details—Doncic’s quotes about persistent cursing and having “had enough”—fed ongoing talk shows and social media discussion about fan conduct and the Suns–Mavs rivalry’s atmosphere [7]. The storyline quietly reconnected to earlier chapters: fans remembered the 2022 one-liners and the 2023 faceoff, interpreting this as another sign of how little air exists between the teams when they share a court. The broader rivalry narrative continued into 2025, when Booker posted a subtweet—“Kept their word”—aimed at the Mavericks account, underscoring that even away from the hardwood, small gestures keep this story in circulation [8].