NIco Harrison was fired as the GM of the Dallas Mavericks months after trading Luka Doncic Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images
In a move that Dallas Mavericks fans have been clamoring for since Feb 1, the Dallas Mavericks fired General Manager Nico Harrison on Tuesday morning.
ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania reported on X at 9:21 a.m. that Harrison would be informed of the decision at a 10 a.m. meeting with team governor Patrick Dumont.
Harrison was hired by former Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban in 2021, along with Head Coach Jason Kidd. In his first couple of years on the job, Harrison won praise for moves both splashy and shrewd while the team excelled on the court thanks primarily to the play of superstar guard Luka Doncic. Dallas reached the Western Conference Finals in 2022 and the NBA Finals in 2024.
BREAKING: The Dallas Mavericks and owner Patrick Dumont are expected to fire general manager Nico Harrison at a 10 am central time meeting on Tuesday, sources tell me and Tim MacMahon. pic.twitter.com/8ipXrhmvR9
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 11, 2025
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But Harrison’s reputation in Dallas took a historically dramatic turn when he traded Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 1. Not only did he ship a transcendent superstar just entering his prime years to a conference rival, he did so while receiving in return what was widely considered to be a subpar package of players and draft picks. Making matters worse in the weeks immediately following the trade, Harrison, Dumont and Kidd often doubled down when defending the move with opinions that often came off as tone deaf and terribly misguided.
Many thought Harrison received a reprieve over the summer when the Mavs landed the No. 1 overall draft pick in the NBA Draft Lottery. Selecting Duke star Cooper Flagg managed to reignite interest in the team from a promotional perspective, but through the first month of the NBA season, the team has stumbled to one of the worst records in the league.
Rumors of Harrison’s potential firing began popping up in national headlines over the past few days, including in a report from Dallas-based NBA reporter Marc Stein, who also reported that the team had recently installed portable stairs next to where Harrison has been sitting at the American Airlines Center this season for a quick, easy exit.
Before the season began, the Observer ran an informal survey asking readers if they were still Mavs fans after the Doncic trade. A large percentage of the respondents noted they would only follow the team again after Harrison was gone. Very seldom does a front-office move elicit any response from its fanbase, let alone one so loud and seemingly unanimous. Some prominent local sports radio personalities were quick to voice their approval of the firing on social media.
“If there are a lot of mid-August birthdays in DFW next year, you can thank the firing of Nico for that,” posted 97.1 producer Kenvin Turner on Tuesday morning. 1310 The Ticket’s Sean Bass posted a note saying “Let the healing process begin,” while his station mate Dave Lane took a slightly different tone, directing Harrison to “rot in hell.”