Dirk Nowitzki reveals the Dallas Mavericks' front office change was long overdue, citing distractions and fan disconnect as key factors.
DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks’ most iconic figure believes the franchise had reached a point where change could no longer be avoided.
Dirk Nowitzki delivered forceful remarks Friday on the NBA on Prime pregame show, offering his first reaction to the firing of general manager Nico Harrison. His comments came as Dallas struggles to navigate a 3–9 start to the season, a sharp decline from last year’s NBA Finals appearance and months of turbulence surrounding the franchise’s direction.
Nowitzki said the Mavericks had been weighed down by lingering fallout from the February trade and a season already slipping off track.
“Well, I think there's just too many distractions, too much going on to keep going this way,” Nowitzki said. “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.”
With the Mavericks sinking in the standings and struggling through injuries, rotation instability and late-game failures, Nowitzki said he understood why the fan base remained unable to simply accept the franchise’s recent decisions.
“I just knew ... I figured this fan base is a passionate and loyal fan base,” Nowitzki said. “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.”
He then shifted to the February trade that sent shockwaves through the fan base and abruptly closed the chapter on the Luka Dončić era. Nowitzki described why the deal never made sense to supporters, especially considering how competitive the roster had become before injuries hit last season.
“And this trade just made no sense. It made no sense to the fans,” Nowitzki said. “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.”
As he reflected on the abrupt end of the Dončić era, Nowitzki said fans were left without resolution to a storyline they had invested in for years.
“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 hopefully a champion one day,” Nowitzki said. “And it feels like they never got to see the end to this. So this was very heartbreaking.”
Nowitzki said the franchise now has a chance to reset and rebuild around its new core, even as the team struggles through its early-season slide. He stressed that the focus must shift toward stabilization and giving the current roster full support.