Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison has seemingly been on the hot seat since he traded Luka Doncic, but the executive does not think he deserves to lose his job. We know this because of a somewhat awkward exchange Harrison had with a reporter.
Harrison held his end-of-season news conference with the media on Monday. He was asked by a reporter about the thousands of fans who chanted for him to be fired when Luka Doncic returned to Dallas last week for the first time as a visiting player after being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. The reporter bluntly asked Harrison, “Why shouldn’t you be fired?”
Harrison said he believes he has done a good job in Dallas and pointed to the team’s bad injury luck this season.
“Well, one, I think I’ve done a really good job here. And I don’t think I can be judged by the injuries this year. You have to judge from totality from beginning to end,” Harrison said.
"I think I've done a really good job here": Mavs GM Nico Harrison was asked why he shouldn't be fired. He said he shouldn't be judged after this year's injuries.
— WFAA (@wfaa) April 21, 2025
Watch Harrison's press conference on WFAA+: https://t.co/XMqq3hYPlI pic.twitter.com/FoDpdwuJ8Z
The Mavericks have dealt with a ton of injuries this season. Most notably, Kyrie Irving suffered a torn ACL on March 3. Anthony Davis also missed time after sustaining an injury in the first game he played with Dallas after the Mavs acquired him in the Luka Doncic trade. Several other players have gone down with injuries as well.
Of course, Mavericks fans do not care about any of that. They are outraged that their franchise cornerstone was traded, and Harrison has not exactly handled the backlash from that move with grace.
Harrison has said he feels he has a strong relationship with Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont, which may be true. The problem for the franchise is that fans are livid, and they want Harrison gone. That pressure is oftentimes too much for a coach or front-office executive to overcome.
