Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki’s unhappiness with the Dallas franchise is reportedly growing.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon attended a limited-access press conference where Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison and CEO Rick Welts addressed the media.
The journalist directly asked Harrison why Nowitzki and former majority owner Mark Cuban weren’t consulted about the bombshell Luka Doncic trade.
“First of all, Dirk is completely turned off by this franchise,” MacMahon said on The Hoop Collective. “I’ll have more on that coming out once they’re eliminated, so probably Thursday morning. But I asked, ‘Hey, why not seek Dirk’s input? Why not seek Cuban’s input?’ And he basically said, ‘If they’re not in the building, they don’t know what’s going on.’ Stay tuned for why Dirk’s not in the building, and the reason Cuban’s not in the building is because Nico made sure he got his butt kicked out of basketball operations once that sale went through.”
Nowitzki played with Luka in his final year for the Mavs, and the pair forged a special bond. Dirk even went to Doncic’s first game as a Laker in Los Angeles to show his support.
MacMahon also revealed that Harrison’s job status isn’t as secure as it seems, despite the very public backing from Dallas ownership.
“Everybody asks me about Nico’s job security — all the time. All I can say is, to this point Patrick Dumont has given him strong public support. This press conference is to be considered proof that Patrick has some significant concerns.”
“But this executive [that I spoke with] said ‘Man, I hope he makes another transaction cycle, because it’s always good to have a desperate GM out there.’”
