Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison had received death threats since he traded former franchise star Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers.
According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, the unfortunate turn of events has forced the Mavericks to beef up security in their first home game since the massive trade.
“This is a heartbroken fanbase, and there have been some very unfortunate developments regarding that anger,” MacMahon said on “NBA Today” on Friday, Feb. 7, as the Mavericks play their first home game — against their intra-state rival Houston Rockets — since Doncic was traded. “Nico Harrison has been subjected to death threats. There have been racial epithets included in some of those.
“Certainly, security’s going to be beefed up. There will be protests outside the arena early. Those are planned. Security will absolutely be beefed up. Nico Harrison is not going to be in his normal seat in the stands. There’s no reason to subject him to that kind of a security risk.”
In the most shocking trade in NBA history, the Mavericks shipped Doncic, a five-time All-Star and All-NBA player, without warning to the Lakers for 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick, last week.
“So that has been definitely an unfortunate part of this whole storyline. Obviously, the fans’ anger—hey, they have every right to feel like they got a generational superstar ripped away from them—but clearly, lines have been crossed.”
The Luka Dončić-Mavericks Front Office Fallout
Harrison vaguely explained the rationale behind his stunning decision to trade the five-time All-Star and All-NBA player who just led them to the NBA Finals last season.
“One thing about me, I’m not going to talk bad about any players, like that’s not going to do us or me any good,” Harrison told reporters during his Sunday press conference. “I’ll just say there’s levels to it. There are people that fit the culture and there are people that come in and add to the culture. And those are two distinct things. And I believe the people that are coming in are adding to the culture.”
Reading between the lines, it was apparent Harrison no longer saw Dončić as a culture fit, much more the face of it.
Luka Doncic’s Father Slams Mavericks’ ‘Hypocrisy’
Saša Dončić, Luka’s father, unloaded on the Mavericks in an interview with Arena Sport Slovenija on Sunday, Feb. 2.
“I understand there comes a moment when you disagree with a certain philosophy,” Saša said. “You don’t like this or that player, all good, I get it. But I think that exactly this secrecy, or should I say from some individuals, maybe even hypocrisy, this hurts me personally.”
Harrison told The Dallas Morning News that Luka didn’t return his call after the trade.
“My guess is he probably doesn’t want to talk to me,” Harrison said.
The Dončićs felt betrayed.
“Because I think that Luka absolutely doesn’t deserve this,” Saša said. “Given the fact that at least, as I know, he sacrificed himself enormously and even all the stories now that someone is releasing that he wants to apologize for the things that they’re doing. I feel like this is very unfair from some individuals because I know that Luka respected Dallas a lot. He respected the whole city, helped children.”
Sasa slammed the rumors about his son’s poor conditioning that came out following the trade.
“It wasn’t even a problem last year since, I am saying again, one individual said he’s not fit enough,” Sasa said. “That he played, I don’t know, 100 games, practically 40 minutes with two or three players constantly on him. That he was beaten and you say such things about him. I feel that this is very unfair from certain individuals. You traded him, stand by your actions but don’t look for excuses or alibis, that’s it.”
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