DALLAS — As the Dallas Mavericks prepare take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of second round playoffs Thursday, most Texans are clear on their allegiance.
Texas-based fast food chain Whataburger however appears to be somewhat conflicted. The company posted about its feelings on X, formerly known as Twitter ahead of game one and Texans reacted — strongly.
Mavericks fans and Thunder fans responded in the comments. Mavericks fans felt understandably betrayed by the burger joint, saying "you broke our hearts" and "pathetic." Ouch. One X user invited them to move their headquarters to Oklahoma.
Several fans called out other iconic Texas brands like HEB, saying they would never betray Texas like Whataburger, allegedly, did.
Thunder and Mavs fans can agree on at least one thing this playoff season, the tweet was bad. Thunder fans, though, are angry because despite Whataburger's professed allegiance to the team the corporate account did not congratulate Rookie of the Year winner Victor Wembanyama.
I guess a little recognition is whatapro needs?
Some fans are saying this gaff goes deeper than a misguided tweet though, pointing to Whataburger's 2019 sale to a Chicago-based merchant banking company. Some fans went so far to insinuate that Whataburger's social media admin was tweeting about the two teams from enemy territory aka the Midwest.
The official Whataburger account was initially defensive, saying that they simply sponsor both teams and was "literally just excited to watch two teams we sponsor. It’s gonna be okay." However Thursday, they took a more self-deprecating approach to the controversy.