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Nico Harrison remains unfazed by the constant calls for his dismissal as Dallas Mavericks general manager. The chants have followed him everywhere, nearly three months after he pulled the trigger on a blockbuster trade that sent young superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis. The move shook the NBA and sparked relentless backlash aimed directly at Harrison.
According to an article from ESPN’s Tim McMahon, clashes between Harrison’s hires—player health chief Johann Bilsborough and performance director Keith Belton—compounded the Mavericks’ injury woes, sources said. Without a full-time manual therapist, the team battled health issues all year. Late in the season, Dallas barely fielded the league-minimum eight players. The Mavs fell below .500 but managed to close at 39-43, securing the West’s final play-in spot.
During his time with the Mavericks, Doncic's side saw Lara Beth Seager—Dirk Nowitzki’s former special projects manager—bring in Real Madrid physiotherapist Javier Barrio Calvo and Slovenian national team strength coach Anze Macek, both well-known to Doncic. This decision followed a persistent quad injury that hindered him and played a part in the Mavs falling into the 2023 draft lottery.
Barrio Calvo and Bilsborough regularly communicated, but their disagreements were common, sources said. Meetings with Harrison, Bilsborough, Seager, Barrio Calvo, and Doncic’s agent, Bill Duffy, often became tense and yielded little progress. Doncic never worked with Belton.
Friction that led to Nico Harrison trading Luka Doncic
Tension spiked after Doncic suffered his fourth left calf strain in 28 months on Christmas Day. Sources said Harrison complained that Doncic was holding the team hostage. In response, Doncic’s camp argued that staying at the Mavs' facility gave him constant access to resources, including two-a-day workouts, weight rooms, and medical equipment, which weren’t available on the road.
Harrison insisted that Doncic needed to scrimmage, but Doncic's camp countered, offering to practice with the G League Texas Legends in Frisco. The next communication from Harrison was to inform them that the trade he had been secretly negotiating with the Lakers for weeks was finalized.
Back then, Harrison saw a clear path to title contention by bringing in Davis. He aimed to build a powerhouse lineup around the dominant big man, pairing him with Kyrie Irving’s playmaking, Dereck Lively II’s emerging presence, Klay Thompson’s perimeter shooting, and P.J. Washington Jr.’s defensive versatility.
Injuries have kept the Mavericks' envisioned core from ever sharing the court. The first time all five suit up together will have to wait until sometime in the 2025-26 season. Davis and Irving barely logged two and a half quarters before Davis suffered a groin injury in his Dallas debut, and while he was out, Irving tore the ACL in his left knee.
The injuries have left fans waiting for answers, but even if the results eventually turn positive, a lingering question remains—how many fans will still care? The Mavericks traded away perhaps the franchise's second-most beloved player after Dirk Nowitzki, just nine months after Doncic led them to the NBA Finals at age 25.
