Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison held a private meeting with media members where he doubled down on his defense of trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. That meeting, along with the initial trade, has sparked outrage across the fanbase and past players. On Tuesday, Harrison seemingly grew tired of the critics and threw some shade at team legend Dirk Nowitzki and the fans.
The 52-year-old general manager claimed that his “obligation” is to do what’s best for the Mavericks franchise, according to Tim Cato of All City. In his statement, Nico Harrison not-so-subtly called out Nowitzki in his full statement.
“My obligation is to the Dallas Mavericks, it’s what’s the best interest of the Dallas Mavericks, and that’s the most important thing. Some of those decisions are going to be unpopular maybe to Dirk and maybe to the fans, but my obligation is to the Dallas Mavericks.”
It’s a bold choice to name-drop Dirk Nowitzki, who is regarded as the best player in franchise history when defending the trade that sent Luka Doncic away to the Lakers in what is viewed as an inadequate move that didn’t warrant the same value that Doncic is worth. The Mavericks fanbase is already upset with Harrison, as they’ve chanted “Fire Nico” numerous times since the deal.
Now, with this latest statement, Harrison likely upsets the fans even more so. Many of them jumped on social media flabbergasted by these comments.
“Did he take a shot a Dirk? Man, this has to be intentional, they want the divorce,” said one fan.
One individual explained, “Nico needs to look himself in a mirror. The fact that Dirk has not been around the team for [two] years might not be entirely on Nowitzki. Why did [Mark] Cuban complain about the trade if it’s in the best interest [of] the Mavericks? He is a stakeholder that obviously does not agree.”
“Every time they’ve spoken in this situation, it’s been worse and worse. It isn’t just unpopular, it’s unfathomable. Nico and the Dumonts can get out of here,” claimed another person.
This fan stated, “Fans of the franchise and their most legendary players ARE the core components of the Dallas Mavericks — and any franchise for that matter. Guy continues to put his foot in his mouth.”
“This is quite the quote, holy hell,” said another fan.
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