Nico Harrison pretends he didn't know Luka Doncic's impact on Dallas Mavericks fans

The Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in a trade that shocked the NBA world to its core. Mavericks fans have been vocal with their displeasure since, with GM Nico Harrison being serenaded by regular chants of 'Fire Nico' at the American Airlines Center during games.

Having seen loyalty from their franchise GOAT, Dirk Nowitzki, for his entire career, Mavericks fans felt betrayed when the next face of the team was casually dealt away. And while for most fans, it was obvious what Luka meant to the city, it seems Harrison didn't quite get it.

The Mavericks had their end-of-season media availability on Monday. When the former Nike executive was asked about the fan backlash, he claimed not to know how important Doncic was.

"I did know that Luka was important to the fan base. I didn't quite know it to what level."

—Mavericks GM Nico Harrison on the Luka Doncic trade pic.twitter.com/AIpzFygBb3
— ESPN (@espn) April 21, 2025

"I did know Luka was important to the fanbase," Harrison said. "I didn't quite know it to what level. But really, the way we looked at it is, if you're putting a team on the floor that's Kyrie, Klay, PJ, Anthony Davis, and Lively... We feel that's a championship-caliber team. And we would have been winning at a high level, and that would have quieted some of the outrage."

The Mavericks drafted the Slovenian phenom in 2018, since which time he has led the team to the Western Conference Finals twice and the NBA Finals once. Admittedly, Doncic hadn't been able to capture a championship yet. However, considering his age and prodigious talent, Mavs fans felt quite certain that it would happen for him someday, just like it did for Dirk.

Nico Harrison has already alienated Dirk Nowitzki and a significant chunk of the fan base. With quotes like this, it only seems like a matter of time before he loses whatever support he has left, too.

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