Nico Harrison press conference: Mavs GM answers questions from reporters

DALLAS - Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison answered questions in front of cameras on Monday for the first time since early February.

Harrison defended the trade that sent Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers, but admitted he did not realize how important the Slovenian star was to the fanbase.

Nico Harrison Press Conference

What we know:

Monday's news conference was scheduled for 1 p.m. and is customary for a team's general manager to hold a news conference at the end of a season.

You can watch it on this page, the free FOX LOCAL app on your phone and TV and the FOX 4 YouTube page.

What they're saying:

Harrison gave opening remarks commending staff members and players of the Dallas organization for their performances throughout the 2024-2025 NBA season and commended the coaches and players for their "never say die attitude" as they finished the season in spite of the injuries depleting them throughout the year. 

Before opening up for questions, Harrison emphasized the importance of the defense and the roster they are putting together heading into next season. 

"Defense wins championships, and we are hanging our hat on defense. We're going to return one of the best front lines in the NBA, and we have one of the deepest and the most versatile benches," said Harrison.

"Why shouldn't you be fired?"

Shortly into the question portion of the press conference, Nico was asked to defend his general manager position with the Dallas Mavericks. The question was prompted by the "FIRE NICO" chants that erupted during Luka's return to Dallas.

"I think I've done a really good job here and I don't think I can be judged by the injuries this year. You have to judge from totality, from beginning to end, and so I think I have a really good working relationship with Patrick. I think if you add in Rick, the leadership that we have is really elite and you'll see next year when our team comes back, we're going to be competing for a championship," said Harrison.

Repairing the relationship with Dirk and the fans

Local journalists asked Harrison how he planned to repair the obviously severed relationship between the current Mavs front office, the fan base and former Dallas Maverick Dirk Nowitzki. 

"You mentioned Dirk, and so it's important to say he's the single most important figure to the franchise, so that's extremely important. I believe winning will help repair the relationship with the fans, and that's what we plan to do next year," said Harrison.

The answer was followed by asking if winning does not fix the fans' relationship with the team and Harrison followed up with a fairly optimistic response. 

"I'm an optimistic person and I move by faith, not by fear," said Harrison.

Defense wins championships

During the press conference, Harrison was asked about his analysis of the mantra "defense wins championships" despite the fact that the Denver Nuggets had won a championship two years ago, ranking 15th in the league on defense.

"I don't want to dismiss your question, but I'm not concerned about  the Nuggets. I feel like we have a championship-caliber team when we're whole. And we're going to hang our hat on defense. We're going to be one of the best defensive teams in the league. And I think that's going to be our calling card," said Harrison.

Luka's level of importance to the fan base

Harrison's most controversial comments came following reporters asking Harrison if the outrage from the fan base exceeded what the front office was planning for. 

"Yeah, good question. I did know that Luka was important to the fan base. I didn't quite know to what level. But really, the way we looked at it is, if you're putting a team on the floor that's Kyrie, Klay, PJ, Anthony Davis, and Lively, we feel that's a championship-caliber team, and we would have been winning at a high level. And that would have quieted some of the outrage. And so, unfortunately, we weren't able to do that, so it just continued to, you know, go on and on," said Harrison.

When asked to clarify his comments a few questions later, Harrrison responded.

"No, I said I did see the outrage, just maybe not to the degree that it actually ended up being. But I also think part of that is because we weren't able to  put a team on the floor. That was day in and day out winning. I think if we would have put the team that we intended to put on the floor, I think that would have quieted some of the outrage."

Nico Harrison's closed-door press conference

Dig deeper:

Last week, Harrison met with several Dallas-based reporters to discuss the Mavericks season and the Luka Dončić trade.

No cameras were allowed in the news conference and no audio of the question and answer session was allowed to be released.

Harrison was peppered by questions from reporters about the highly-criticized trade.

The general manager said he had "no regrets" about the trade, repeating "defense wins championships" as an answer to several questions.

Harrison was also asked if he planned to stay in Dallas long-term.

"I have three years left on my contract. I see myself finishing it out. In terms of Dallas, this is our home. My family is going to finish school here. This is where we live. This is where I'm living," said Harrison.

Luka Dončić Trade

The news of the Dončić trade sent shockwaves through the basketball world.

The trade, announced late on the night of February 1, sent Dončić, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 LA Lakers first-round pick.

The trade sparked outrage from Mavericks fans at the time.

Mavs season comes to an end

Dončić and the Lakers are in the playoffs.

The Mavericks were eliminated after a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in the play-in tournament on Friday.

Local perspective:

"We’ve been to the top of the mountain, and now we’re at the bottom. It’s going to take us coming together, coming together as a team, as one, so that we can climb the mountain top and get back to what we know we are," said Mavs center Dereck Lively II on Saturday.

"Every fan has a right to an opinion, a right to voice an opinion. To us as players, that's fine, and it's our job as players is to not tune it out, but we have to continue to play regardless if it affects us or not," said Mavs guard Max Christie.

Dallas MavericksSports