It was every bit of frustrating to watch Harrison ramble on Monday
Nico Harrison gave his yearly exit interview Monday afternoon, less than a week after a strange “closed door” roundtable took place a day before Dallas played for their playoff lives. The Mavericks’ general manager took questions and spoke for just over 26 minutes, with each subsequent remark further proving his incompetence for the position he is in. I would advise you to watch the presser in full, as the confidence and cluelessness of Harrison’s statements cannot be properly conveyed through text. Everything he said told the story of a man who is in over his head. However, two quotes in particular stood out to me as the defining moments of what is a fitting end to a disaster season.
He doesn’t quite know
About nine minutes into the press conference, Harrison was asked by Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star Telegram a question about the fan relationship with Luka Doncic: “To the anger and outrage of the fanbase, has that kind of exceeded what you were planning for?” Harrison replied, “I did know how important Luka was to the fanbase. I didn’t quite know to what level.” That is as simple as it gets. Harrison just does not quite get it. This was not a man operating maliciously or with ill intent towards anyone involved. He viewed Doncic as a detriment to the team and an expendable asset, and expelled him at the cost of the entire fanbase. He does not understand the complexities of fandom, nor does he fully comprehend the magnitude of the decisions he has made. This was further reinforced by his insistence that he had “done a good job” and that he viewed Anthony Davis as a player comparable to Doncic. It was apparent throughout the entire media availability that something is not clicking. Not quite knowing that a top-three player entering his prime, coming off of an NBA Finals run, who has entire businesses making decisions around him, means that much to the city is a fireable offense in and of itself.
Agreeing to disagree
The other shocking and, frankly, disturbing sentiment that reverberated for me was that of Harrison’s lack of cooperation with the people whose opinions matter. Allegedly bringing in Jason Kidd in the 11th hour was something we already knew, but Monday’s Q&A shed light on Harrison’s way of operation that helped quantify just why all of this went down the way it did. When asked if Harrison was “told to do the deal” by Governor Patrick Dumont, he said no and proceeded to reference his leadership at Nike and how “a really good leader doesn’t tell the people that work with him what to do”. He went on, “…unfortunately, I’m super stubborn, so someone telling me to do something doesn’t work too well for me.” Later, when asked about whether or not Jason Kidd agreed with the move, Harrison once again dismissed the idea of agreement: “I don’t think it’s about agreeing, but he aligns with how I think.”
It is baffling to hear someone with such a powerful and important role in an organization, sports or not, talk openly about not having to agree with other important people and even going as far as to say he doesn’t like it when people disagree with him. That is not what a leader does. Leadership is as much about collaboration and working with the people who have to deal with your decisions as it is about making the decisions themselves.
I almost felt bad for the guy because at every turn, he showed his incompetence and the lack of awareness needed to continue in this role. I admire his unwavering faith in his decision, even after all the blowback. But as strong as his conviction in “defense wins championships” is, my conviction in knowing he should not work a day more with the Mavericks is tenfold.