Gary Payton on Nico Harrison trading Luka Doncic: ‘It wasn’t his call to make that decision. He made a decision based on what he was told to do’

Gary Payton: Then I started playing, and I started feeling better and better. We were down too much in the series, and I just started saying: “Let me guard him.” And he [Jordan] was averaging 33 points at the time. Then I started becoming a pest for him. I brought it down to 23 points. And what do coaches do when they have a problem? They try to solve it. Jordan was starting to take it personally with me, which is what I wanted to happen. Then Phil Jackson said, “Nah, let me put somebody bigger on him and distract him—make it a problem.” And he put Scottie Pippen on me. Pippen is a bigger player than me—he’s 6’7″, he’s mobile. And it started taking a toll on me— Trying to score and guard Jordan at the same time—it took a toll. -via YouTube / May 23, 2025

Gary Payton: People just don’t understand. I think—and I always tell Shawn—I say: “If we wouldn’t have gotten our egos messed up, and his ego messed up—if he would have stayed with me more years—he’d be a Hall of Famer by now.” You know what I’m saying? Because we would’ve made a bigger dynasty than what we did. We were one of the greatest duos to ever play with each other. And now, I’m trying to get him in the Hall of Fame for what he did with me. You know what I’m saying? I just think I had a blessing to play with a person with that much talent— because I could just throw the ball up to him, and he would go get it from anywhere. -via YouTube / May 23, 2025

Jorge Sierra: Russell Westbrook passed Kevin Johnson and Bob Cousy in playoffs assists for No. 19 in NBA history. He also moved ahead of Andre Iguodala and Gary Payton in steals for No. 27… and Clyde Drexler in scoring for No. 32. Big night for Russ. -via Bluesky / May 3, 2025

So while the prevailing wisdom might be that it’s better to be lucky than good, it doesn’t really matter how the Mavericks got to this point. They’re here. And they are ready to capitalize on their good fortune. “To look forward to, who knows, maybe the next 10 years of success for the Mavericks, it’s an unbelievably lucky thing, but I think we were due,” Welts said. “Sometimes when you have a 1.8 percent chance of something good happening to you, it happens.” -via mavs.com / May 22, 2025

In a matter of a week, the Mavericks saw their public perception zoom up to full-scale optimism, which was a huge leap from where they were, which was somewhere south of subarctic relations with their fans. The change has been easy to spot, especially for those who work in the organization. CEO Rick Welts has seen the difference just walking around the office, through the ticket-selling department and even while out in public. “Our lives today have no resemblance to the way our lives were before last week,” Welts said, referring to the NBA draft lottery in which the Mavericks got lucky and received the No. 1 pick, who will be Duke sensation Cooper Flagg. “It’s really quite extraordinary. Just walking around town. Getting high-fives from the doormen at my apartment building when they were looking away when I’d walk by before.” -via mavs.com / May 22, 2025

Sure enough, the memory of Luka Doncic fades a bit given the new order of things. “Season ticket holders who may not have come back to us in the initial renewal (process) now all of the sudden are like: maybe I want to be in American Airlines Center next year as well,” Welts said. “The excitement around this for our fans is just unbelievable. I can’t imagine a more dramatic change in fortune than what we’ve experienced.” -via mavs.com / May 22, 2025