A good nine months after the controversial blockbuster trade involving Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks have parted ways with their heavily criticized general manager Nico Harrison.
The club from the NBA professional basketball league announced the 52-year-old’s expulsion on Tuesday, with former all-star Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi taking over the position together.
“This decision underlines our ongoing commitment to building an organization that can compete for the championship and that does justice to our players, our partners and, above all, our fans.”said club owner Patrick Dumont. Harrison had been GM since summer 2021.
“Fire Nico” chants in defeat against Milwaukee
Dallas, which had just three wins in eleven games this season, lost 114-116 at home to the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, “Fire Nico“Shouts echoed through the American Airlines Center during the game. Just like in the spring after the club surprisingly handed over the Slovenian superstar Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Harrison was responsible for the personnel.
Fans held up banners reading “Fire Nico” at home games back in March
Numerous fans were outraged by the deal, and there were protests in front of and in the hall. Some spectators were even thrown out of the arena in February. The reason was for the daily newspaper Dallas Morning News “most shocking trade in Mavericks history”club idol Dirk Nowitzki was also caught unprepared for the swap deal.
Nowitzki: “I feel sorry for the Mavs fans”
Successes would help “to improve the relationship with the fans, and that’s exactly what we plan to do next year“, Harrison had said because of the excitement around him. But the successes did not materialize, despite the Mavs’ luck in the draft lottery. The Texans were allowed to go first in the distribution of talent and took Cooper Flagg. The college star set a career high with 26 points on Monday, but has so far remained below his potential.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo shoots a three-pointer against the Mavericks on Monday
“I feel sorry for the Mavs fans. It’s a disastrous start“, the new Prime expert Nowitzki had recently said. The team was missing something at the point guard position, which was exactly what Doncic had filled until he moved. “You can’t throw. You can’t create plays.”says Nowitzki, “It was hard to watch.”