MUCH more from Dirk Nowitzki's nearly two-minute answer on the firing of Nico Harrison:
"Well, I think there's just too many distractions, too much going on to keep going this way. This move should have probably happened this summer honestly. I didn't want this negative energy and this black cloud over the Cooper Flagg era, but here we are now.
"I just knew ... I figured this fan base is a passionate and loyal fan base. I was lucky enough to experience it for 21 years. And I knew they weren't (going to) just get over it, as people say, or forget about it. They're extremely passionate.
"And this trade just made no sense. It made no sense to (the fans). And, really, there was no explanation for it, either. You go to the (NBA) Finals the year before. You gave up all these assets to build, really, the team around Luka with some 6-9 wings that all can switch and guard. You had two lob threats with (Daniel) Gafford and (Dereck) Lively and the team was built around him. You added Klay (when) the shooting was a little bit of an issue in the Finals against Boston. So you did all this. ... Going into (the) Christmas Day game, they were 14-3 out of the last 17 games, so they're just starting to hit their stride and then Luka gets hurt. And unfortunately that's the last game he's ever played in a Mavs uniform.
"It was very sad. It was very sad how that ended and it felt like ... the fans feel like they got robbed of actually seeing the end, seeing this through, seeing Luka develop into a hopefully a champion one day and it feels like they never got to see the end to this. So this was very heartbreaking."
Dirk Nowitzki on @NBAonPrime on Nico Harrison: "This move should have probably happened this summer honestly. I didn't want this negative energy over the Cooper Flagg era. ... This (Luka) trade ... it made no sense to (the fans) and really there was no explanation for it either."
I’ve worked in sports a long time. My least favorite type of people are those who think fans are beneath them. And nobody believed that more than Nico Harrison.
So respectfully, good riddance.
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.
Nico Harrison’s exit from the Mavericks as GM after four-plus seasons is regarded as imminent and could happen as soon as today, @TheSteinLine has learned.
Jones: "Micah Parsons did an outstanding job for us for four years and a little bit of the way Herschel Walker may have had his greatest contribution to the Cowboys -- what he brought to us when he left could be a tremendous thing for our fans and the success of this team."