The Dallas Mavericks finally did the inevitable when the organization decided to fire general manager Nico Harrison this week. Harrison had become extremely unpopular among the Mavericks fanbase following the controversial Luka Doncic trade last season, and matters only worsened after the team’s poor start to the season. Prior to the Mavericks’ game against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, the team made the rare decision to have players speak pregame in a press conference setting, and PJ Washington revealed how he found out that Nico Harrison had been fired, as per Noah Weber of The Smoking Cuban.
“Twitter,” Washington said. “We found out just like everyone else.” In addition to that, Washington also revealed that he had reached out to Nico Harrison after learning that he had been fired, as per Ron Harrod Jr. of DLLS Mavs.
“Obviously I thank Nico for what he did for me,” Washington said. “He believed in this group, so do I. I just wanted to text him, thank him, and just went about our business.”
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In the aftermath of the Doncic trade, Mavericks fans often rained down, ‘Fire Nico’ chants during home games, a trend that continued this season with some fans going so far as to yell the chant while Mavericks players were shooting free throws. Some in the organization, including head coach Jason Kidd, found the chants to be disrespectful.
Coming into Wednesday’s game against the Suns, the Mavericks had a 3-8 record and were in last place in the Western Conference standings. But amid the Mavericks’ struggles have been injuries to key players such as Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II and Dante Exum. The team is also awaiting the return of Kyrie Irving who is rehabbing from an ACL injury.