Dear Nico Harrison,
This can’t be real.
It has to be fake. Shams got hacked. Am I dreaming?
There’s no way you made this big of a mistake.
It was 11:15 p.m. on Feb. 1 when the notification popped up on my phone. It was news I never thought I would see in my lifetime: you traded Luka Doncic.
In an instant, my life as a Dallas Mavericks fan changed forever. I fell to my knees in my room; you ripped every ounce of joy from me. My phone blew up, and I was calling and texting friends. We didn’t know what to do with ourselves.
The player I saw get drafted, the one who reignited my hopes in a franchise going through dark times — as Dirk Nowitzki’s career was coming to an end, — the player I believed would bring us our second championship is gone — all because of you.
The deal itself makes no sense. Who trades away a 25-year-old Doncic, who took the team to the NBA Finals, for a 31-year-old man with injury problems and a single first round pick? Apparently, you do, Nico.
Even though the deal was a gut-wrenching reality, it wasn’t the deal itself that was the worst, it was the fact that no one knew.
You kept our head coach, Doncic, NBA insiders and even LeBron James in the dark regarding a trade that would send shockwaves through the sports world. You and the Mavs front office willingly traded away the fan-favorite player without consulting anyone.
You broke the cardinal rule of being a general manager: don’t trade the face of the franchise.
I was in my house watching the draft in 2018 when we traded up to draft Doncic, a kid from Slovenia who was named MVP of EuroLeague at just 19 years old — a kid who came to the NBA to accomplish his dream of winning a championship and playing basketball at the highest level.
I was watching when he hit a game winner against the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA Bubble. I was watching when he dismantled the Phoenix Suns in 2022 to send the Mavs to the Western Conference Finals. I was watching when he hit the step-back game winner over Minnesota Timberwolves’ center Rudy Gobert last year — the very shot that paved the road to our first finals appearance since 2011. I watched as he became rookie of the year, when he made five straight all-star games, five straight All-NBA first team appearances and captured the hearts of Mavs fans as he announced he was having a child. You took that away Nico.
All of those beautiful memories I have of Doncic seem a million miles away now that he is gone — now that you got rid of him. Ever since you joined the Mavs organization in 2021, I thought you had done a good job; you brought in Kyrie Irving for pennies on the dollar and made great deadline moves last season. However, you have also had some major screw-ups. You let Jalen Brunson walk away in free agency because you didn’t want to pay him. Now he’s leading the New York Knicks and is an all-star; great job, Nico. For every good move you seem to make, you decide that an equally stupid one must balance things out.
The sad and dark truth of the trade you made is: Doncic was firmly planted in Dallas. He became a part of the Dallas family, was an active member in the community and believed he would spend the rest of his career here. Fans believed him because, after we witnessed the greatness of Nowitzki and braved the trying waters as he declined with age, Doncic shined bright like a new star ready to lead us back to the promised land. Yet, you didn’t even have the courtesy to call him and tell him you were contemplating trading him.
You kept fans, media and the entire Mavs organization in the dark until the 11th hour. You single-handedly tore down the hopes I had for the Mavs organization and the love I have for the franchise; it all came crumbling with one post.
Doncic was the heart and soul of this team. It wasn’t just his skill that captivated fans — it was his passion for the game, the fire that he played with every time he stepped on the court and the swagger he did it with. He played through injuries and battled through struggles to help this team win. Yet we repaid him by trading him for chump change.
Time will tell if you made the right decision acquiring Anthony Davis, and if he can help this franchise win another championship, but this was one of the worst trades in NBA history. I am heartbroken with the news of the trade. It feels as if a part of my soul was ripped from my chest and crushed in front of me. It will be a long time before the city of Dallas recovers from this deal.
As a fan, I won’t give up on this franchise. Mavs Nation has been through dark times before, yet we have always remained faithful. I have watched this team through ups and downs, from winning our first championship with Dirk to losing to Boston in the finals last year. There aren’t enough words to describe the pain I feel from this trade, but I know there is light at the end of the tunnel.
But Nico, I will never forgive you and the ownership for what you did. You have tested us beyond our breaking point. I hope we can remain strong and not let one bad trade ruin the happiness this team has brought us throughout the years, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it did. I will admit: this team is still poised to be successful. Even without Luka, there is still hope that the team can bring another championship to the city we love.
Even though you can’t fathom saying goodbye the right way, I have the utmost respect for Doncic, the player that gave hope to a new generation of fans. So, to Doncic, farewell, from Mavs Nation. The joy you brought this city and its fans will never be expressed enough. We wish you the best and hope you will return. You will always have a home here.
Doncic, I will never forget what you did for the city of Dallas. Nico, I will never forget what you did to the city of Dallas.