The Dallas Mavericks have experienced a momentous 24 hours, firing general manger Nico Harrison, a divisive figure among fans, to put it politely.
Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, joined by players PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford, talked about the dismissal of the former Nike executive Wednesday.
Kidd talked about how the anti-Harrison sentiment affected the team, specifically some of the “Fire Nico” chants that went on during Mavs players’ free throws.
“We can only hope that we don’t have to go through that again, because it was a little disrespectful, because the guys are playing hard, and they’re trying to win, but that chant when we’re shooting free throws is very disrespectful, but understanding that they got their point across, the fans, but we have to move forward. I understand the healing process for the fans, but these guys are playing hard. Ever since the trade, these guys have given everything,” said Kidd, “We got over, I think, $100 million sitting on the sideline, and we’re still competing. We’re still in games, and we’re learning how to win. So I would hope that we start to get a little credit for that.”
Kidd also pointed out that it was important for players to feel support, not disrespect, from fans.
“These guys, they can hear those things, and they feel really disrespected, and it’s hard to keep guys here in this league when they start to think that the home team is not home, and it becomes a visiting place and so hopefully that changes."
Washington who had previously complained about the chants, which happened when he was at the free-throw line, talked about how he hopes fans move forward.
“I felt the same way [as Kidd], I felt like people weren’t really cheering us on, it felt like from a player standpoint. So hopefully that changes,” said Washington. We’ll see tonight; hopefully everybody starts cheering up and be quiet during free throws.”
Kidd also talked about how hard it was to lose someone you had worked with.
“Yesterday was a tough day for everyone, for the organization, anytime you lose someone because you’ve spent the last four years, but it’s tough. But I think when you look at the NBA, season keeps going, we have to continue to push forward,” said Kidd.
Gafford spoke on how the team moves forward and the firing of Harrison and what the team’s mentality is.
“I think, just like the outlook of it for the team, it’s just the business of basketball, and when it comes to that, our main focus right now is just the basketball side of it. We can’t really focus on just whatever goes on behind the scenes, and all the stuff that goes on, the front office stuff. We got games to win at the end of the day. We’ve had a bit of an up-and-down beginning of the season, so our main focus right now is just coming out, just playing hard, just winning basketball games for sure,” said Gafford.