The Dallas Mavericks shocked the NBA world in February when president of basketball operations Nico Harrison traded perennial MVP candidate Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis and a first-round pick. It seems the trade did massive damage to the franchise’s relationship with Dirk Nowitzki.
Related: 2025 NBA Draft order, Dallas Mavericks draft picks 2025
Appearing on Wednesday’s “The Hoop Collective” podcast, ESPN NBA reporter Tim MacMahon shared that Nowitzki and team minority owner Mark Cuban have distanced themselves from the organization. Furthermore, Harrison’s recent comments have turned “turned off” Nowitzki from the franchise.
“First of all, Dirk is completely turned off by this franchise… I asked [Harrison], ‘Hey, why not seek Dirk’s input? Why not seek [Mark] Cuban’s input? He basically said, ‘If they’re not in the building, they don’t know what’s going on.’ Stay tuned for the reason Dirk’s not in the building and the reason Cuban’s not in the building. Because Nico made sure he got his butt kicked out of basketball operations once that trade went through.”
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon on the relationship between Mark Cuban, Dirk Nowtziki and the Dallas Mavericks
Related: Top NBA free agents 2025, NBA free agency rankings this summer
Nowitzki and Cuban were both stunned by the Mavericks’ decision to trade Harrison, especially given the ‘light’ return Harrison received in the deal. Even more surprising were the leaks from the organization that aimed Doncic’s work ethic and his ability to be a championship-caliber player.
Cuban, who once said he’d sooner divorce his wife before trading away Doncic, sold the Mavericks in December 2023 to the Adelson family for $3.5 billion. While he still maintained a minority ownership stake, he was pushed out of running basketball operations, with Harrison a big part of that.
Related: Dallas Mavericsk facing nine-figure revenue loss from Luka Doncic trade
Nowitzki spent his entire NBA career in Dallas, earning 14 All-Star selections and winning the NBA Finals in 2011. He had been a staple within the organization even after his retirement in 2019. Since the deal went down, the only game he attended at the American Airlines Center came in Doncic’s return.
Harrison’s doubling down on the trade during a meeting with local media, where cameras weren’t allowed, seemingly only made things worse in Dallas. The team’s president of basketball operations is still poised to keep his job heading into next offseason, but it appears his actions have created a significant rift with the most important player in franchise history.
