As a brand you’ve made it when a “Fire Nico” chant breaks out at Medieval Times, and your team is a punchline for Saturday Night Live.
On March 8, the Mavs achieved this rare double-double.
What began as a cry of anger at Dallas Mavericks home games, “Fire Nico!” has made the jump from the NBA to an anthem that can now be heard all over North Texas, including dinner time at family themed restaurants.
First it was Mavs games. Then it was on to the Dallas Stars, SMU men’s basketball and, on Saturday night, the viral chant echoed all over Medieval Times, the famous family restaurant near downtown Dallas. Whatcha got, Dallas First Baptist?
In case you’re one of those who likes to finish their Christmas shopping early, “Fire Nico” is now a T-shirt.
A few hours later, SNL got in on the fun, when comic Keenan Thompson, playing the part of NBA “analyst” Kendrick Perkins, mocked the Mavs during a bit on Weekend Update, on March 4.
“Folks on the inside know Luka-Dookey is hurt,” Thompson’s version of Perkins told Weekend Update anchor Michael Che of former Mavs forward Luka Doncic.
If only this was true.
Mavs GM Nico Harrison, the 2025 Los Angeles Lakers Employee of the Year, is the face of all of it. Fans have been mad at Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones before, and he’s served his time in the dunk tank, but the current outrage towards Harrison feels different. If you want to throw the race card in there, have at it.
The only man who can save/stop any of this is a person who has zero background in it: new team owner Patrick Dumont. When he bought the team from Mark Cuban, in Nov. of 2023, he did it as a long term investment, and a foot in the door to a casino license in Texas for his Las Vegas Sands Corp.
He had zero training in reasoning with the best, and worst, consumer alive: The sports fan. They will go into life-altering debt to support the team, and take consumer abuse like no one else, but in return they will exhibit the irrational anger of a dumped ex-lover.
On Sunday, the Mavs hosted the Phoenix Suns in a nationally televised game that was essentially for 10th place in the Western Conference. When the season began Suns/Mavs was Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, Devin Booker versus Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic and Klay Thompson.
On Sunday, it was KD, Beal and DBook vs. Klay, Max Christie and Kessler Edwards. More injuries to their current lineup left the Mavs with seven healthy bodies during the game.
Under most circumstances the Mavericks lineup, and bench, would merit an investigation of tanking by the NBA.
Beginning on Feb. 2, the Mavericks started a month that has no equal in sports history. Mavs GM Nico Harrison trading Luka Doncic to the L.A. Lakers for center Anthony Davis, and who cares what else?
The trade kicked off a series of bad that most franchises don’t experience in years let alone a month. Fan protests. Fans being escorted from the American Airlines Center for making derogatory comments about the trade.
The team is 6-10 since the deal, and extended their losing streak to five with a loss to the Suns. The season-ending ACL injury to Kyrie Irving on March 3 ended the team’s season, as now it looks like Davis will shut it down, too.
Other than speaking to the media in Cleveland a few hours before the Mavs played the Cavaliers the day after the Doncic trade, Harrison has not made himself available for questions. Rather than sit in his normal seat to watch Sunday’s game, Harrison stood in the tunnel at the AAC between two men who appeared to be plain clothes security.
Other than winning the NBA Draft lottery and the right to select Duke forward Cooper Flagg No. 1 overall, Harrison’s task to win back fans is akin to surviving a quick swim over Niagara Falls.
Morale around the Mavericks is fast approaching a depth this franchise has not “enjoyed” since the 1990s, when it was one of the worst pro sports in North America. People are mad at him in ways that not even he may fully realize.
In due time there will be whispers that grow louder about Harrison from team employees; that’s the normal trajectory. Dumont handed both Nico and coach Jason Kidd contract extensions in the spring of 2024, and he’s not apt to swallow one or both of these deals to satiate a fan base that wants blood.
“Fire Nico!” may be a joke, but the people who sing it are not joking.
There is only person who can do anything about it, and he has no background for something like this.
Mac Engel
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
817-390-7760
Mac Engel is an award-winning columnist who has covered sports since the dawn of man; Cowboys, TCU, Stars, Rangers, Mavericks, etc. Olympics. Movies. Concerts. Books. He combines dry wit with 1st-person reporting to complement an annoying personality.