Nico Harrison’s response when asked why he shouldn’t be fired

Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison held a press conference on Monday with the season officially over. During the event, he fielded many questions about the Luka Doncic trade, the future of the club, and even his job security.

At one point, Harrison was asked point blank, “Why shouldn’t you be fired?”

The 52-year-old general manager defended himself, stating he believes he’s done a great job for the Mavericks so far. Nico Harrison doesn’t believe that he can be judged too harshly for missing the playoffs due to injuries. Additionally, he believes he has a strong relationship with team owner Patrick Dumont and Mavericks CEO Rick Welts.

“Well, one, 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.

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“I think I have a really good working relationship with Patrick [Dumont]. I think you add in Rick [Welts], the leadership that we have is really elite. You’ll see when your team comes back that we’re going to be competing for a championship.”

Injury woes were a problem for the Mavericks this season. Anthony Davis, who was the star power forward Nico Harrison traded for in the Doncic deal, only played in nine games. Even star point guard Kyrie Irving missed more than 30 games due to injury.

Regardless, the decision to trade Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers has cast a dark cloud over the franchise. What the Mavericks do moving forward will ultimately decide the fate of the organization.

Dallas ended the season with a 39-43 record in the regular season. After suffering a 120-106 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in the play-in tournament, the Mavericks failed to make a playoff appearance. This comes just a year after the franchise made an appearance in the NBA Finals with Doncic leading the way.