Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison did not help mend his reputation in the slightest with his latest admission about the Luka Doncic trade.
On Monday, Harrison held an end-of-season press conference to discuss the Mavericks’ 2024-25 season, a campaign defined by arguably the most controversial trade in NBA history. His response to one question in particular riled up fans even more.
Reporter: “The anger and outrage from the fan base, has that exceeded what you were planning for?”
Harrison: “Good question. I did know that Luka was important to the fan base. I didn’t quite know it to what level.”
The Mavericks exec added that the success he expected from the team post-Luka was supposed to “quiet” some of the outrage. That did not happen in the slightest.
Fans grew even more exasperated with Harrison over his lack of understanding of what Doncic meant to the city of Dallas. Many expressed their frustrations on X.
"I didn't know one of the best players of the era was so important to fans of the team he was on"
— Clifton Duncan (@cliftonaduncan) April 21, 2025
This is a 100% disqualifying quote from Nico Harrison.
— Cryptid Politics 🇺🇸🐊 (@CryptidPolitics) April 21, 2025
“I did know Luka was important to the fan base. I didn’t know quite to this level.”
How can you be this disconnected from your own fan base?
Nico just stop talking. When you have no idea what a player means to a fan base / city and stutter while talking about it, obviously the job is too big for you. Maybe do a little research next time. A team went to the Finals last year on the back of the player (that you traded)…
— Ryan Totka (@RyanTotka) April 21, 2025
Some fans were so perplexed by Harrison’s answer that they thought it was a meme post from infamous NBA parody account, NBA Centel.
This isn’t CENTEL???????
— Jeremy Kamali (@JeremyKamali) April 21, 2025
@grok is this real? Because it looks real but the words coming out of his mouth sound like @TheNBACentel
— Mike Metzler (@MTZLER) April 21, 2025
Harrison also frustrated fans when he tried to explain why he deserves to keep his job after causing said outrage.
The Mavericks’ season mercifully came to an end on Friday in a 120-106 play-in tournament loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Dallas could potentially field a competitive team next season if the team stays healthy (big if) and Kyrie Irving successfully returns from injury. But no matter what type of season the Mavericks have going forward, Harrison’s bid to win back the fan base seems like a lost cause.
