Casey Smith’s championship celebration doubled as a message to Nico Harrison, where the Mavericks’ former trainer was pushed out before landing with the Knicks.
The New York Knicks won the championship Saturday night in San Antonio, and by the time New York finished celebrating, former Dallas Mavericks trainer Casey Smith had already fired his shot.
“Shout out to my real ones. They said we weren’t a good fit for their culture. Said we weren’t good enough in our roles. Peter Patton, Heather Mau, Jalen. We did and will continue to do the work.”
Smith spent nearly 20 years with the Mavericks as head athletic trainer and director of player health and performance. Former Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison fired him in 2023 over a Zoom call while Smith was in Ohio tending to his mother in the final weeks of her life.
The stated reason, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, was that Smith was “too negative.” Sources interpreted that as meaning he was not enough of a yes-man. When Harrison was later pressed about the decision during an end-of-season interview in 2025, his response was telling.
“You bringing up Casey is like almost, it’s kind of a joke,” Harrison said. The joke has a punchline now.
The Knicks hired Smith in 2024; in his first year with New York, his staff won the Joe O’Toole-David Craig Athletic Training Staff of the Year Award from the National Basketball Athletic Trainers Association. His staff won the championship the year after.
Meanwhile, without Smith, Dallas ranked fourth-highest in salary lost to injury in 2024-25 and second-highest in 2025-26. Kyrie Irving tore his ACL, and Dereck Lively II missed two consecutive seasons with foot issues. Anthony Davis barely played during his brief time in Dallas before he was traded. P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford, and virtually every key rotation player missed significant time. The connection is not subtle.
The names Smith tagged in his post complete the picture. Heather Mau was an assistant athletic trainer under Smith in Dallas from 2019 to 2024 before joining the Knicks as a senior athletic trainer. Peter Patton was Dallas’ shooting coach from 2018 to 2023.
New York shot a league-best 39.1 percent from 3-point range in these playoffs. Last but not least, Jalen Brunson, drafted 33rd overall by the Mavericks in 2018 and allowed to walk for nothing in 2022, scored 45 points in the clinching game and was named Finals MVP.
