Dirk Nowitzki is the greatest player in Dallas Mavericks history, spending all 21 years of his career with the organization.
Nowitzki now serves as an NBA analyst for Amazon Prime and spoke about the Mavericks’ recent firing of general manager Nico Harrison.
The Basketball Hall of Famer was asked why the move had to happen.
‘I think there’s just too many distractions, too much going on to keep going this way,’ Nowitzki said. ‘This move should have probably happened this summer, honestly. I didn’t want this negative energy and this black cloud over the Cooper Flagg era, but here we are now.’
The Mavericks decided to move on from Harrison with the team sitting at 3-8 after the first 11 games of the season.
The fan base also continued to share its frustration during home games with ‘Fire Nico’ chants. Those chants started last season after Luka Dončić, who helped lead Dallas to the 2024 NBA Finals, was traded in February.
“I just knew, I figured this fanbase is passionate and loyal,’ Nowitzki said. ‘I was lucky enough to experience it for 21 years, and I knew they weren’t going to just get over it, as people say, or forget about it. They are extremely passionate, and this trade just made no sense. It made no sense to them and really, there was no explanation for it, either. You go to the Finals the year before, you give up all these assets to build, really, the team around Luka. … The team was built around him.’
Nowitzki and Dončić have a history together, having played for one year in Dallas – Nowitzki’s final season in the NBA and Dončić’s first. The two have remained close beyond that year.
‘It was very sad,’ Nowtizki said of the Dončić trade. ‘It was very sad how that ended and the fans feel like they got robbed of actually seeing the end, seeing this through, seeing Luka develop into hopefully a champion one day and it feels like they never got to see the end to this.
‘This was very heartbreaking, but now, I think it’s time to move on. It’s time to move on now. Focus on this team, on this franchise. This definitely set the franchise back but now it’s about building it back up. Obviously, this team is struggling a bit. It needs the support, all they can get. Hopefully, we can have a good year here from now on and cheer the team up.’
Nowitzki made an appearance in Los Angeles and showed his support for his former teammate, who was making his Lakers debut in February.
‘We texted a bit, and I felt a little disappointed and sad for him,” Nowitzki previously told 96.7 The Ticket in Dallas-Fort Worth. “… He invited me out to his first game in L.A. I felt like I had to support him.’
How did Dirk Nowitzki find out about Mavericks-Lakers trade?
Nowitzki was on vacation in the Maldives when he heard about the trade that sent Dončić to the Lakers in a deal that also sent Anthony Davis to Dallas.
‘I was as shocked and surprised as everybody was,’ Nowitzki said. ‘I just spent the next hour following everything on social media.’