In a move that shocked nobody, the Dallas Mavericks fired general manager Nico Harrison earlier this month. Harrison had come under fire following last season’s shocking Luka Doncic trade, and amid the Mavericks’ struggles this season, calls for his firing only grew louder. Anthony Davis, the centerpiece of the trade for the Mavericks, recently gave his thoughts on the firing, which drew the ire of the team’s fanbase on social media.
Anthony Davis offered a measure of support for Nico Harrison after his firing, saying that he wanted to help Harrison fulfill the vision he had for the Mavericks. That didn’t go over so well with the Mavericks fanbase, with some of them accusing Harrison of trying to rush Davis back from injury to save face.
Brother he wanted your achilles to fucking explode and he’s your guy,😂😂😂
— fernando (@fernandooo_1) November 26, 2025
Your guy put you in the worst possible situation. This is your legacy now. Think about that the next time you two chat.
— Dončićnelli’s Cheese Shop (@SnapCrapola) November 26, 2025
Others accused Davis’ injuries and limited availability since joining the Mavericks as the catalyst for Harrison being fired.
It's your fault AD. You haven't played a full week since you came to Dallas
— Louisville(basketball)Tuanny (@LouisvilleTuan1) November 26, 2025
he got fired cause of you, playing 4 out of 20 games
— Nico-Robiinnn 🤞🏿 (@NicoRobiinMFFL) November 26, 2025
He is your guy so you decided to show up to training camp out of shape lol
— Kevin Bai (@slifersd) November 26, 2025
And yet some urged the fanbase to be empathetic towards the players, as they are at the mercy of the front office and ownership.
This is where we as a fanbase need to show some empathy and understand that it’s totally valid for AD to feel this way. As always in the Post-Luka Era.. pressure needs to be targeted at ownership and management, not the players.
— JB Takes (@JBTakes_YouTube) November 27, 2025
In any case, it’s clear the Mavericks organization still has a long way to go to win back the fanbase as the backlash from the Doncic trade is still great. As some of the fans mentioned, Davis’ availability has continued to be sore spot, especially in the wake of Doncic’s scorching hot start to the season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
But help could be on the way soon. Davis set to return from a calf injury that’s kept him sidelined for close to a month. With the Mavericks taking on the Lakers on Friday, in the final game of NBA Cup group play, Davis could be back for what would be his first game at Crypto.com Arena since the trade. He did not suit up during the Mavericks’ visit to Los Angeles last season post-trade.
Davis has appeared in only five games this season at a little over 29 minutes per game. He was averaging 20.8 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocked shots with splits of 52 percent shooting from the field, 27.3 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 74.2 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
