The Dallas Mavericks have managed to orchestrate one of the most epic falls from grace in recent professional sports memory, trading their franchise cornerpiece Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers and predictably cascading down the standings in the immediate aftermath. The main target of the criticism has been general manager Nico Harrison, although it's clear that the team's ownership, led by Patrick Dumont, also signed off on the shocking deal.

The Mavericks have apparently not only alienated their entire fan base but also their franchise's most legendary all-time player by trading Doncic.

“Dirk (Nowitzki) is completely turned off by this franchise. I’ll have more on that coming out once they’re eliminated, probably Thursday morning,” reported ESPN NBA insider Tim McMahon on The Hoop Collective podcast, per Basket News.

McMahon then spoke on a recent interaction he had with Harrison.

“I asked [GM Nico Harrison], ‘Why not seek Dirk’s input? Why not seek Cuban’s input?’ He basically said if they’re not in the building, they don’t know what’s going on,” reported McMahon.

A disastrous trade

Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) and Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) in action

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It was clear that Dirk Nowitzki was not on board with the Luka Doncic trade when he chose to attend Doncic's first game with the Los Angeles Lakers instead of the Mavericks game that evening.

Nowitzki and Doncic were teammates during the 2018-19 season–Doncic's rookie year–and everything seemed poised for a storybook passing of the torch from one franchise legend to the next.

Doncic led the Mavericks all the way to the NBA Finals this past June, putting together one of the most impressive playoff runs in recent NBA history in the process and further cementing his status as the franchise's primary building block moving forward.

Until Nico Harrison decided to trade him to the Lakers.

In the weeks since, the Mavericks have seen both Davis and Kyrie Irving suffer serious injuries, and their season is now on life support, with a nine vs ten play-in game on Wednesday evening vs the Sacramento Kings.

The winner of that game will have to win another game just to have a chance to get matched up with the 68-win Oklahoma City Thunder.