It's the beer hijacking seen around the sports-blog world today, and one of Minnesota's best-loved beers is at the center of it.
A viral clip taken by a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter shows the team's All-Star guard Luka Doncic enjoying a can of locally brewed Fulton Lonely Blonde Ale with his dad while savoring their playoff victory over the Timberwolves at Target Center in Minneapolis on Thursday night. Right after taking a swig of the Minneapolis-made beer, though, the Mavericks' Vice President of Operations Michael Finley is seen casually swiping the can out of Doncic's hand, seemingly in disapproval.
"Luka Doncic's NBA Finals celebration spoiled by Mavericks executive stealing his beer," reads a headline on the New York Post's website, one of many news organizations to write up the incident.
It's not clear why Finley (an ex-NBA player himself) took the beer from Doncic, who acts as if he'll be handed back the can in the clip and then shrugs it off when he's not. Sure, the Slovenia native acted childish throughout the playoff series with the Wolves, but he's actually a 25-year-old adult who's legally permitted to drink beer. And the Mavs' next series against the Boston Celtics for the NBA championship doesn't begin for a full week.
Fulton Brewing, anyway, seems to be enjoying the viral attention and the fact that the beer got into Doncic's hands in the first place.
The 15-year-old microbrewery — located just a few blocks from Target Center in the North Loop — retweeted the clip via X (formerly Twitter) on Friday with a glib message: "We'd recognize that beer anywhere."
After seeing the clip Friday — and then being repeatedly asked about it — Fulton's CEO Ryan Petz said, "There are things you don't expect to be talking about when you get up in the morning, and this certainly is one of them."
"It's fun to see our beer in the hands of someone famous," added Petz, recounting Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger's claim of drinking Fulton's beer on stage at U.S. Bank Stadium in 2021.
With this particular celebrity being on the opposing team, though, Petz said, "We were joking that that was the one bad offensive move in the series that [Doncic] should've complained to the refs about."
Fulton's team felt Finley's confiscation of the Lonely Blonde was so egregious they're even considering sending "a care package" to the Mavericks' offices in Doncic's name. "Or he's welcome in our tap room anytime," Petz added.
Other social-media users had less kind reactions to the incident than Fulton did. Here are some of the more colorful responses out there.
