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Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Dončić broke his silence on the his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, firing Nico Harrison, the general manager who made the surprising trade to send him to the Lakers earlier in the year.
“Just, the city of Dallas, the fans, the players, they’ll always have a special place in my heart,” Doncic said when asked about the move via the New York Post. “I thought I was going to stay there forever, but I didn’t. So, that will always be a special place for me. I will always call it home. But right now, I’m focused on the Lakers and trying to move on. But, obviously, always there will be a part of me there. But just trying to move on and focus on what I’m doing here.”
Harrison was fired on Tuesday (November 11) nine months after trading Dončić, 26, the franchise's cornerstone, in a move that was widely criticized by Mavericks fans, and hours after team owner Patrick Dumont accepted the move as a mistake during a courtside interaction with a fan Monday (November 10) night. The Mavericks traded Dončić to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick in February 2, which was met by protests from fans outside the American Airlines Center on the night of the deal and prior to the team's next home game, while chants of "Fire Nico" never dissipated, having continued during Monday's loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Dumont sat courtside for Monday's game, the first time he attended a game since a blowout loss to the San Antonio Spurs in Dallas' season opener, as the Mavericks blew a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter to drop to 3-8 through their first 11 games of the 2025-26 season and last place in the Western Conference. Dončić, a five-time All-Star, averaged 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists during his seven seasons in Dallas and is currently averaging 34.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and 8.9 assists for the Lakers through his first eight games of the 2025-26 NBA season.