(CNN) — The Dallas Mavericks fired general manager Nico Harrison on Tuesday, dismissing the man who traded away fan-favorite Luka Dončić in one of the most shocking NBA trades in recent memory.
Mavs fans essentially rebelled against Harrison in the months after the early February trade, chanting, “Fire Nico!” at every opportunity. Harrison became something akin to Public Enemy No. 1 in Dallas, even after lucking into the top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and drafting Duke star Cooper Flagg.
In a letter to fans, owner Patrick Dumont said the current state of the organization is not in line with the expectations fans have set for the Mavs.
“No one associated with the Mavericks organization is happy with the start of what we all believed would be a promising season,” Dumont wrote. “You have high expectations for the Mavericks, and I share them with you. When the results don’t meet expectations, it’s my responsibility to act. I’ve made the decision to part ways with General Manager Nico Harrison.”
He added, “I know our players are deeply committed to a winning culture, this decision was critical to moving our franchise forward in a positive direction.”
The organization announced Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi will serve as co-interim general managers while a permanent replacement is sought.
The Dončić trade ended up ushering in one of the bleakest stretches for any NBA team in recent memory. On February 1, the Mavericks sent Dončić, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and the Lakers’ 2029 first-round draft pick.
In the period after the deal, the Mavericks went 14-21, lost Anthony Davis – the main player Dallas received in return for Dončić – for weeks due to injury in his first game with the team, lost talisman Kyrie Irving to a season-ending ACL injury and watched a slew of other players go down hurt. Davis returned as the Mavs tried to win a spot in the NBA playoffs through the play-in round but ultimately fell short.
During that entire time, the fans demanded Harrison be fired and pundits declared that the Mavericks had just made a potentially franchise killing move. Dončić is just 26 years old, led the team to the NBA Finals in the 2023-24 season, had been named All-NBA each year he had been in the league and was entering his prime. All reporting around the deal indicated that Dončić never planned to leave Dallas, and his emotional return to Texas in April indicated that the pain of the surprise move still pained him.
The 26-year-old told ESPN that he threw and cracked his phone when he first heard about the trade, adding that he felt “sadness mostly” and that he “felt like my heart was broken, honestly.”
In his end-of-season news conference, Harrison said he was surprised by the city’s depth of feeling for Dončić.
“I did know that Luka was important to the fanbase,” Harrison told reporters during his season-ending news conference. “I didn’t quite know to what level.”
At the time, Harrison remained staunch in his belief that Dallas has the makings of a winning team despite the trade and fan backlash.
“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,” Harrison said, adding that being healthy is the only thing keeping the team from challenging for a title. “And so unfortunately we weren’t able to do that, so it just continued to go on and on.”
But how the franchise handled the Dončić trade and its immediate aftermath sealed Harrison’s fate in the minds of many Mavs fans.
One of the things that particularly irked fans was a report after the trade that slammed Dončić’s conditioning, with ESPN citing sources inside the franchise revealing frustration with his diet. The treatment of a player who was widely revered as an icon in Dallas, especially less than a year after an NBA Finals appearance, went over like a ton of bricks.
“Everyone wants to point at Luka’s flaws, at least for a half-second,” Mavs fan Matthew Slovak told CNN. “The overwhelming narrative is that this is the most ridiculous thing ever, but there was that, ‘Yeah, but.’ There is no ‘yeah, but.’ – this is the most indefensible trade of all time.”
In his letter, Dumont emphasized that he understood the frustrations of the fans.
“I understand the profound impact these difficult last several months have had. Please know that I’m fully committed to the success of the Mavericks,” he wrote.
“Thank you for your support, thank you for holding us accountable, and thank you for your passion and for your patience. You deserve transparency and a team that reflects your spirit. Our goal is to return winning basketball to Dallas and win championships. Our family is committed to that mission and to continuing to invest in Dallas and the Mavericks’ future.”
CNN’s Ben Morse and Andy Scholes contributed to this report.
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Kyle Feldscher and CNN
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