Bad blood was brewing between Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison and Luka Doncic long before Doncic's midseason trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, according to a new report on the messy end of the Doncic era in Dallas.
ESPN's Tim MacMahon wrote in his tell-all report on Monday that the final year and change of Doncic's time with the Mavericks was marked by heightened tensions and a "frigid dynamic" between his camp and Harrison.
The alleged cold war between Harrison and Doncic escalated a few months before Doncic got dealt to L.A. when the Mavs GM seemed to make an extremely petty move toward his franchise star.
Doncic reportedly had already drawn the ire of Harrison after picking up injuries and adding "more than a dozen pounds" before the start of the 2024-25 season. Doncic, who at this time was going to his own team of doctors instead of the Mavs' medical staff, was then diagnosed with a sprained right wrist on Nov. 20.
However, Harrison didn't seem to buy it.
"Sources said Harrison and the Mavs' medical staff considered the diagnosis a cover-up to allow Doncic time to work on his conditioning and shed weight after a sluggish start to the season by his standards," MacMahon wrote.
Here's what MacMahon reported happened after Doncic's sprained wrist diagnosis:
"On Nov. 29, a day before the fifth and final game [Doncic] sat out, a television in the media room at the Mavs' practice facility was tuned into the closed-circuit feed of Doncic scrimmaging with low minutes players and staffers, launching long jumpers on almost every offensive possession. When a team employee noticed the feed, they changed the channel quickly, saying they were unsure how it became available. The feed has not been shown in the media room since."
It seems slightly far-fetched to think that Harrison would have sabotaged his own team and leaked practice footage of a visibly healthy Doncic following the Mavs star's wrist injury, possibly trying to paint him in a bad light to the media. But, then again, given everything that has happened since the trade, is it really so hard to believe?
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as New Report Reveals Mavs GM Nico Harrison’s Seemingly Petty Move Toward Luka Doncic.
