When Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison sat down for his end-of-season press conference, he made one of the most baffling admissions in recent NBA memory:
“I did know Luka was important to the fan base. I didn’t quite know to what level.”
"I did know Luka was important to the fanbase. I didn't quite know to what level."
Nico Harrison when asked about the outrage from Mavs fans pic.twitter.com/xkghFNGDLP
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 21, 2025
It was a sentence that sent Mavs fans into another tailspin of rage and disbelief, not just because of what it implied, but because it proved what they had feared for months, Harrison never truly understood what Luka Doncic meant to the city of Dallas.
Doncic wasn’t just another All-NBA talent. He was the face of a franchise, a beacon of hope during one of the darkest periods in Mavericks history. At 19, he arrived when Dirk Nowitzki was winding down his legendary career and the team had become irrelevant.
In six years, Doncic turned the Mavs back into contenders. He became a perennial MVP candidate, a five-time All-NBA First Teamer, and the driving force behind a Western Conference Finals appearance and a trip to the NBA Finals. He did it with flair, charisma, and a loyalty that felt rare in today’s NBA until the team traded him without a single public trade request or reported ultimatum.
The backlash from the fanbase was immediate and visceral. Protests erupted outside the American Airlines Center. Jerseys were burned. Season ticket holders demanded refunds.
When Doncic returned to Dallas as a Laker, the crowd exploded in ovations for him louder than they ever cheered for their own team and chants of “Fire Nico” rang across the arena.
This was a homegrown icon, someone who bought a massive house in Dallas, expressed repeatedly that he wanted to retire as a Maverick, and gave the franchise everything he had. And they shipped him off like he was just another asset.
Harrison’s justification? He believed that pairing Anthony Davis with Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, and Derrick Lively could form a championship-caliber team. He suggested that winning would have quieted the outrage.
But that logic only deepened the disconnect. Mavericks fans didn’t just want wins, they wanted Luka. He wasn’t just their star, he was their emotional investment, their identity, their bridge from the Dirk era into the future.
To not grasp the depth of that bond is negligence. To admit it publicly is a blunder of historic proportions. The fallout of the trade extends far beyond the court.
Attendance has dipped, merchandise sales have plummeted, and several sponsors have reportedly backed away. The emotional and financial costs are steep, and they’re all tied to Harrison’s inability to comprehend what Doncic represented.
Luka Doncic wasn’t supposed to be traded. He was supposed to be immortalized. A statue. A legacy. A lifer. Instead, Nico Harrison shattered that dream and didn’t even understand why fans were devastated.
That’s the kind of misjudgment no front office survives for long.
