Nico Harrison, the former general manager of the Dallas Mavericks, made a slew of nasty comments after he inexplicably traded the ball. Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers last February. He argued that trading twenty-five-year-old Doncic, one of the best basketball players in the world, for thirty-one-year-old Anthony Davis, a decorated but injury-prone big man nearing the end of his prime, would help the Mavericks “win now and win in the future.” The previous season, Doncic led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals in one of the most dominant individual playoff runs in recent memory. Wasn't the franchise already positioned to win now and in the future with Doncic? In Davis' first game with Dallas, he suffered an adductor strain that sidelined him for several weeks; a month later, All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving tore his ACL. “Next year when our team comes back, we'll be fighting for a championship,” Harrison said after the Mavericks finished the rest of the season with thirteen wins and twenty losses, missing the playoffs. A month later, Harrison received a lifeline: in a historic stroke of luck, Dallas won the NBA Draft lottery despite having only a 1.8% chance of doing so. (Only three other teams in league history have won with worse odds.) “Fortune favors the brave,” Harrison said, holding back a smile after the team selected phenom Cooper Flagg with the first pick in the draft. He later added, “I think fans will finally be able to see that vision.”
Last Tuesday, after starting the season 3-8, the Mavericks fired Harrison. Davis is, of course, injured again, and Irving's return timeline remains unclear. Doncic, meanwhile, electrified Los Angeles with flashy performances on the floor and impressive moments as he attempted to win his first league MVP award. Mavericks fans, forced to watch their favorite Slovenian forward make another city's championship dreams come true, were outraged. The rallying cry of “Fireman Niko” became a staple of Mavericks home games, a salvo echoing throughout the stadium loud enough to pierce any television broadcast. (Last year, during Doncic's first game against the Mavericks in Los Angeles, the crowd cheered, “Thanks, Niko!”) The home team's displeasure was evident on the eve of Harrison's firing against the Milwaukee Bucks. With 1.2 seconds left in the game and the Mavericks trailing by three points, Dallas forward P.J. Washington found himself at the free throw line with a chance to send the game into overtime. But the fans didn't seem to care, and despite the high-stakes moment (Washington made three free throws), the familiar “Fireman Niko” chorus echoed through the stadium. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo grinned as he prepared to box out, and Washington made one but missed his final two free throws. After the loss, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said his players felt “disrespected” and that “it's hard to keep guys here when they start to think the home team isn't home.” Meanwhile, Harrison was still waiting for luck to favor his courage. “Time will tell if I’m right,” he admitted the day after Doncic was traded. Now, almost ten months later, time seems to have run out.
Trade, of course, never made any sense. Perhaps the only similar deal in the history of professional sports, as Louise Thomas did. identified in her opening of the deal on New Yorkerwhen the Boston Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for cash. Harrison's rationale for trading Doncic was twofold. “Defense wins championships,” he argued, referring to Davis' elite rim protection and ball-shifting ability, and no doubt dismissing Doncic's subpar and sometimes terrible defensive play. (In last year's Finals, when the Mavericks lost three games to zero to the Boston Celtics, ESPN reporter Brian Windhorst described Doncic as a “hole in the court” on defense and said the team was “begging him” to improve.) Another related, though less explicitly explained, reason for the deal was that Doncic was often accused of not taking his fitness seriously – he showed up multiple times. to training camp. being overweight, possibly leading to a higher likelihood of injury. (Doncic was nursing a left calf strain when the trade happened, although he has been mostly healthy throughout his career.)
