The Dallas Mavericks‘ struggles at the start of this 2025-26 season continued as they blew a 13-point lead to lose 116-114 to the Milwaukee Bucks at the American Airlines Center on Monday. With the Mavericks’ lead disappearing in the fourth quarter, the home crowd once again made their frustrations with general manager Nico Harrison loud and clear.
Harrison was in attendance for the game and witnessed the Mavericks fans break into “Fire Nico” chants on multiple occasions in the fourth quarter. They want the 52-year-old gone, and his reaction to the chanting went viral.
Nico Harrison’s reaction to the “FIRE NICO” chants 😭 pic.twitter.com/0uP1QmLBOW
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) November 11, 2025
The chants first broke out when P.J. Washington headed to the line with just over seven minutes remaining in the fourth. They could be heard again on each of the Mavericks’ next four trips to the charity stripe as well.
By now, Harrison might have gotten used to this. We have seen the fans call for his firing at home games a fair few times since the Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February 2025.
The Mavericks got Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick in return for Doncic. It looked like a terrible trade for the Mavericks at the time and looks even worse now.
Doncic is currently averaging 37.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 9.1 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game in 2025-26. He has led the Lakers to an impressive 8-3 start and is very much in the MVP race at this early stage of the season.
Harrison had said, “Defense wins championships,” when talking about why he traded Doncic. He also reportedly had concerns about the Slovenian’s long-term health, and did not want to give him a supermax extension.
Of course, the irony wasn’t lost on anyone that Harrison was seemingly concerned that Doncic’s body would break down, but then acquired the injury-prone Davis for him. Unfortunately, to no one’s surprise, the big man has struggled to stay healthy with his new team.
Davis played just nine games for the Mavericks last season following the trade. The 32-year-old then suffered a calf strain in their fifth game this season and has now missed six games in a row.
Davis had recorded four straight 20-point, 10-rebound games to start this season, but he was still nowhere near as impactful as Doncic has been for the Lakers. This trade was just a colossal mistake, and it might be the biggest one in the history of the NBA.
Nico Harrison Likely To Lose His Job Midseason
It appears that Mavericks fans will get their wish fulfilled not too long into the future. NBA insider Tim MacMahon reported that the team is likely to fire Harrison midseason.
“At this point, I believe it’s a matter of when, not if, Nico Harrison will be fired. And there’s a very, very strong likelihood that will be midseason. Maybe they can get things turned around, maybe his seat can go from sizzling to a more normal temperature. But, you know, every time I think they’ve hit rock bottom, they find a way to drill deeper… That would’ve been drilling all the way down to Hades. And that’s about how hot Nico’s seat is right now.”
The relationship with team governor Patrick Dumont is said to have completely deteriorated, and this usually results in a parting of ways.
The Mavericks hired Harrison in 2021, and the team enjoyed a fair bit of success on the court following his arrival. They made the Western Conference Finals in 2022 and then the NBA Finals in 2024.
While Harrison made some quality moves to help improve the team, he undid most of his good work by making a whole lot of costly mistakes. The Doncic trade was the biggest one of the lot, and you wonder if he will ever get another opportunity to be a general manager in the NBA after this.
The Mavericks have now dropped to 3-8 following this latest loss and will take on the Phoenix Suns next at American Airlines Center on Wednesday at 8:30 PM ET.
