Nico Harrison, the embattled Dallas Mavericks general manager, was met with sarcastic “Thank You, Nico” chants from the Los Angeles Lakers fans on his first visit to the Crypto.com arena after “gifting” generational superstar Luka Dončić to the glamour franchise.
According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, Harrison took the jeers in stride.
So, I asked in jest afterward: Did he say, “You’re welcome?”
“No,” Harrison said with a smile before heading for the exits.
Give Harrison credit for this much: The 52-year-old former Nike executive is, as you surely have heard by now, a man of great conviction. Once his vision is crystallized — no matter how uncomfortable it might be — he sees nothing else but the decisions that must be made to bring it to life. And in the case of Dončić, whose poor habits both on and off the court were at the crux of this controversial call, that meant parting ways with a player who most believe is on track to become one of the all-time greats for an older, injury-riddled big man in Anthony Davis, who was the centerpiece of their return.
Harrison must be feeling good even if Dončić drew the first blood — a 107-99 Lakers win — in what should be a rivalry for the ages from hereon.
It took a triple-double from Dončić and LeBron James‘ fourth-quarter heroics to beat the shorthanded Mavericks, who were missing their top three big men led by Davis, Harrison’s prized return from the trade.
Luka-LeBron Combo Saves Lakers
The Lakers led by as many as 16 points but the Mavericks kept on closing the gap until they ran out of steam late in the fourth quarter.
Dončić did not shoot well, going 6-for-17 from the field and 1-for-7 from behind the arc, but he submitted a complete game: 19 points, 15 rebounds, 12 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
James scored 16 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to save the Lakers from what could have been an embarrassing upset to the undermanned Mavericks.
A pair of 3-pointers from Klay Thompson and Naji Marshall tied the game for the last time at 91. Then James took over, scoring nine of the Lakers’ last 16 points to seal the win.
LeBron Lauds Luka
It was an emotionally charged game from the start.
Dončić hit his only 3-pointer in the second quarter then quickly turned to the Mavericks bench and roared. With his outside shot off for the majority of the game, Dončić went inside and tried to take advantage of the Mavericks’ lack of interior size. He went 5-of-8 inside the paint.
Dončić did not force the issue when his outside shots were not falling. He distributed the ball and organized the Lakers offense that had the Mavericks scrambling on defense.
“Obviously there’s a lot of emotion that goes in when you give so much to a franchise and you sacrifice for a franchise and you have that type of love and respect for a franchise — throughout all the journeys,” James said of Dončić. “They went to the Finals, all that stuff. He’s grown from being an 18-, 19-year-old kid to now a 25-year-old man with a family. … And when you move on or they move on from you, it’s very emotional, obviously. It’s very taxing.
“It’s probably a lot of things that were going on in his head that probably didn’t even involve the game itself. And with that said, I thought he handled it tremendously.”
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