Dirk Nowitzki broke his silence when Niko Harrison took a shot

Like Dallas The Mavericks are moving on from former GM Nick HarrisonHall of Fame Dirk Nowitzki he didn’t hold back on how he felt about the team being fired. For Nowitzki, it should have happened earlier.

Either way, the Mavs’ Hall of Fame forward believes it was the right decisionafter last season’s trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, which was a terrible move for Nowitzki, he said, on NBA on Amazon Prime.

“There (are) too many distractions. Too much going on to continue down this path,” Nowitzki said. “This move was probably supposed to happen this summer, honestly. I didn’t want this negative energy and this black cloud over the Cooper Flagg era. But here we are, now. I just knew. I realized that this fan base has passion. It’s a loyal fan base. I’ve been lucky enough to experience that for 21 years, and I knew it wasn’t going to, like people say, go away.

“They’re extremely passionate, and this trade just didn’t make sense. It didn’t make sense to them, and really, there was no explanation for it either. You’re going to the Finals a year early. You’re giving up all these assets, really, to build around Luke, with some 6’9″ wingspan, you can trade up and guard for him. You had two live threats with him and the team was built around him and Gafford and the team

Nowitzki said the Mavericks added size and shooting after Dallas’ appearance in the 2024 NBA Finals, but never had a chance to see it come together in the postseason, adding to the frustration of Mavs fans.

“You added Klay, whose shooting was a little bit of a problem in the Finals against the Celtics. So you did all this, they started the next season well, going into the Christmas game,” Nowitzki added. “They’re 14-3 over their last 17 games. So they’re just starting to pick up and Luca gets hurt, and unfortunately, that’s the last game he ever plays in a Mavs uniform.

“It was very sad. It was very sad how it ended. The fans felt like they were robbed of seeing the end, of seeing this through, of seeing Luka develop into, hopefully, a champion one day. And it feels like they never got a chance to see the end of this. This is very heartbreaking,” Nowitzki concluded.

“It’s time to move on.”

Mavs Dirk Nowitzki fires GM Nick Harrison. pic.twitter.com/8J9MvksVdm

— NBA on Prime (@NBAonPrime) November 14, 2025

Dirk Nowitzki says firing GM Nick Harrison was best for the Mavericks

Hall of Fame forward Dirk Nowitzki says moves on from former Mavericks GM Nick Harrison is key to the team, which needs all the support it can get. For Nowitzki, the trade of Luka Doncic to the Lakers brought the franchise back, after an appearance in the 2024 NBA Finals.

“This definitely brought the franchise back,” Nowitzki said. “But now it’s about building it back up, and obviously this team is struggling a little bit. It needs all the support it can get. Hopefully we can have a good year from here, no, and cheer the team on.”

The Mavericks will host the Clippers in the NBA Cup on Friday.