Stephen A. Smith, the outspoken host and analyst of the “First Take” on ESPN, criticized Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison for being tone-deaf in trying to defend the Luka DonÄiÄÂ trade.
“[Harrison] looked bad saying what he said yesterday,” Smith began. “You underestimated, you didn’t know how much, to what degree fans loved Luka Doncic? You underestimated that? Where the hell do you live? Are you in Waco, Texas, or someplace instead of Dallas? What are you talking about? How could you utter those words out of your mouth?
“That means that you are in some cocoon somewhere, you don’t go outside, you don’t go to the games, which clearly is not true because he’s always there. I’m saying, how in God’s name could you possibly say that?… You can’t say what he said, talk about being tone-deaf. Talk about being clueless and completely removed from reality to say you didn’t know how much the fans loved Luka DonÄiÄ.”
.@stephenasmith reacts to Mavs GM Nico Harrison’s end-of-season press conference ð
“You didn’t know to what degree the fans loved Luka Doncic? … Where the hell do you live at?” ð pic.twitter.com/idutuvkXWm
â First Take (@FirstTake) April 22, 2025
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Nico Harrison’s Damning Admission
During his end-of-the-season press conference, Harrison made the damning admission that he underestimated the backlash from fans for trading away their former franchise superstar.
âI did know that Luka was important to the fan base,â Harrison told reporters on Monday, April 21, during his end-of-the-season press conference. âI didnât quite know to what level.â
DonÄiÄ had just led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season and is entering his prime years. But his reported off-court habits, which led to nagging calf injuries, and the differing philosophies between his camp and Harrison on how to manage his recovery, led to the most shocking trade in league history.
But Harrison stood by his decision.
âThe way we look at it was if youâre putting a team on the floor thatâs Kyrie (Irving), Klay (Thompson), P.J. (Washington), Anthony Davis and (Dereck) Lively (II), we feel thatâs a championship-caliber team and would have been winning at a high level, and that would have quieted some of the outrage,â Harrison explained.
Stephen A. Smith Says Nico Harrison Paid No Attention to Mavericks Fans
Smith said he nearly fainted when he saw Harrison’s interview. That infamous quote from Harrison threw out his credence and credibility, according to Smith.
“You essentially told the fanbase you don’t know them and you have paid no attention to them since you arrived in 2021, because there is no human being associated with the Dallas Mavericks on Earth that should be able to say ‘I did not know. I did not understand the magnitude at which this city and this fanbase loved Luka Doncic.’ He is a global, iconic basketball brand,” Smith added.
“Nico’s got a history in marketing spanning decades before he arrived in Dallas, which means his M.O., his expertise is marketing. His expertise is getting a feel and having a knowledge and an understanding of what an audience wants, and the very audience you represent, you didn’t know that their star player was somebody they loved dearly?”
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