The Dallas Mavericks‘ season may be over, but Nico Harrison continues to be public enemy No. 1 in North Texas.
TNT Sports commentator Charles Barkley was the latest to weigh in on the Mavericks general manager’s embarrassing comments where he admitted he underestimated Mavericks’ fans love for Luka Doncic.
Harrison, who made the largely ridiculed Doncic-for-Anthony Davis trade early in the morning of Feb. 2, has defended the deal in his many post-trade press conferences.
That led Barkley to speak out in what he felt was best for his “friend” Harrison on “Inside the NBA” on Monday.
“Nico Harrison, I consider you a friend of mine. I wish you nothing but the best,” Barkley said, looking into the camera. “Man, don’t do any more press conferences.”
The Lakers took off after trading for Doncic, going 22-13 and clinching the No. 3 seed in the West. The Mavericks cratered closing the season 14-21 and losing to the Memphis Grizzlies in the Play-In Tournament.
The Doncic trade’s magnitude was felt in Dallas immediately, with fans asking for refunds on their season tickets and “fire Nico” chants audible at home games for those that still attended games over the final two months at American Airlines Center.
It didn’t help that both Irving and Davis spent much of their time together on the bench, injured. Davis played just nine games in a Mavericks uniform — and did ball out with 40 points and nine rebounds in their loss to Memphis. Irving only played 11 games post-trade before tearing his ACL.
But even after admitting that he was blindsided by the fan reaction to the trade, Harrison again defended the deal again in his press availability during Dallas’ breakup day. He also offered his reasoning for rallying around the Mavs’ core of Davis, Irving, Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington and Dereck Lively II.
“I did know Luka was important to the fan base. I didn’t quite know to what level,” Harrison said. “If you’re putting a team on the floor that is Kyrie, Klay, P.J., Anthony Davis and Lively, we feel that’s a championship-caliber team and we would’ve been winning and that would’ve quieted some of the outrage.”
That pushed Barkley over the edge.
“I don’t know what you’re doing. I really don’t,” Barkley said. “I got sympathy and love for you, but I have zero idea what you’re trying to do. This war is over, brother. You’ve taken the ‘L.’ I hope you keep your job and your team gets healthy, but don’t do any more interviews.”
The Doncic trade’s reverberations will continue to be felt in the Metroplex for years to come — potentially long after Harrison is no longer in charge of the Mavericks. Clamoring for Harrison to lose his job has become cool in North Texas, especially after Doncic led the Mavs made the NBA Finals just 11 months ago.
So the anger is still fresh for all Dallas-area fans — even those of the Dallas Stars, who share a building with the Mavericks. That led at least two hockey fans to state their desire for Harrison to lose his job in a high-profile protest at Game 2 of the Stars vs Colorado Avalanche first-round series Monday night.
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