ESPN’s Tim MacMahon was in attendance on Tuesday at a limited-access press conference in which Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison and CEO Rick Welts spoke.
Now, MacMahon has revealed that during the media session, he asked Harrison why Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki and former majority owner Mark Cuban weren’t asked for input before the team traded away star guard Luka Doncic.
While summarizing that part of the press conference, MacMahon revealed that Nowitzki is “completely turned off” by the Mavs franchise.
“First of all, Dirk is completely turned off by this franchise,” MacMahon said. “I’ll have more on that coming out once they’re eliminated, so probably Thursday morning. But I asked, ‘Hey, why not seek Dirk’s input? Why not seek Cuban’s input?’ And he basically said, ‘If they’re not in the building, they don’t know what’s going on.’ Stay tuned for why Dirk’s not in the building, and the reason Cuban’s not in the building is because Nico made sure he got his butt kicked out of basketball operations once that sale went through.”
Nowitzki and Doncic were teammates during Nowitzki’s final season in the NBA, and the two of them developed a bond during Doncic’s time with the Mavs.
After Doncic was shockingly traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, Nowitzki was in attendance in L.A. when Doncic made his debut with the Purple and Gold.
I will always be a Mav for life, but had to come support my guy 77 @luka7doncic in the first game of his new chapter!
— Dirk Nowitzki (@swish41) February 11, 2025
It’s unclear if the Doncic trade is all to blame for Nowitzki being “turned off” by the Mavs franchise. MacMahon’s comments might have indicated that there’s something else at play.
Regardless, the Doncic trade certainly caught Nowitzki and countless others by surprise. Doncic, after leading the Mavs to the NBA Finals last season, is now in line to be the face of the Lakers for many years.
Dallas’ 2024-25 season collapsed following the trade, with injuries ruining any real chance the team had of making something happen. The Mavs are still alive in the play-in tournament and could sneak into a playoff series, but they aren’t realistically in a position to make any sort of deep run.
Nowitzki is an icon in Dallas, so the fact that he’s reportedly feeling some type of away about the franchise right now certainly isn’t pleasant news for fans. Nowitzki, a Hall of Famer, spent his entire NBA career with the Mavs, winning one MVP award and helping the team win the NBA Finals in the 2010-11 season.
Hopefully, there are brighter days ahead for Dallas, and with any luck, Nowitzki will feel better about the organization in the future.
