DALLAS — Many Mavericks fans vented their frustration, in what has recently become familiar fashion in Dallas, chanting for the termination of general manager Nico Harrison as the final minute played out in Friday night’s 117-107 loss to the Washington Wizards.
“Fire Nico!” chants have frequently been heard in the American Airlines Center since the stunning trade of Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 2, months after the homegrown superstar had led the Mavs to the 2024 NBA Finals.
Dallas’ improbable win in the draft lottery, which delivered No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg to the Mavs, somewhat reinvigorated the fan base over the summer. But the Mavs have stumbled out of the gate, getting routed by 33 at home by the San Antonio Spurs in Wednesday’s opener before losing by double digits to a Washington squad coming off an 18-64 season.
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There were scattered “Fire Nico!” chants during the season-opening loss, although “Go Spurs Go!” and “MVP!” chants for San Antonio superstar Victor Wembanyama were louder. There were thousands of empty seats in the arena by the time the chants broke out multiple times late in Friday’s loss.
“I think they have a right to vent, but there’s a patience [needed],” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “It’s a different team, it’s a new team. We’re just getting to understand each other. We’re going to keep learning each other. So I would say be patient, but I understand the frustration. We all want to win. We all want to compete at a high level, but it’s a game of expression, and fans have a right to express themselves. But that doesn’t stop us from coming to work tomorrow and getting better and getting ready for Sunday [against the Toronto Raptors].”
Kidd signed a multiyear contract extension during the preseason, a negotiation that began after the Mavs denied the New York Knicks permission to pursue him for their head coaching vacancy in the offseason. Sources told ESPN that there have not been any discussions about a contract extension for Harrison, who has two years remaining on his deal.
The Mavs, who are starting Flagg at point guard despite him playing forward at Duke, rank last in the league in offensive efficiency after two games, averaging only 95.5 points per 100 possessions. Dallas has averaged 18.5 turnovers per game, including 20 in the loss to the Wizards.
“Everything’s correctable and internal,” said power forward Anthony Davis, the headliner in the package the Mavs received in the Doncic deal who had 27 points, 13 rebounds and 5 turnovers in Friday’s loss. “We are beating ourselves, and as long as we are doing that, we can correct it,” he said. “But we also have to learn from it and be ready for Sunday.”
Meanwhile, Doncic is leading the NBA in scoring at 46.0 points per game. He had 49 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists in the Lakers’ 128-110 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.
Flagg praised the Dallas crowd for its energy Friday night, especially during the fourth quarter, when the Mavs rallied to slice a deficit that had been as high as 17 points to four at one point.
“The fans showed up. They were amazing tonight,” said Flagg, who had 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and also finished with five rebounds, six assists and five turnovers. “I thought we were competing at a high level in that fourth quarter. A lot of things were right — getting stops, playing the way that we want to play, and that kind of sums it up. It was just periods tonight, and we got to be able to sustain that for the whole game. I think we took somewhat of a step in the right direction, but it has to be a lot better.”
Cooper Flagg had a monster dunk Friday night against the Wizards but also endured something he never experienced in his one season at Duke — a second straight loss, as Dallas fell to 0-2 on the season. AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
Flagg said he did not hear the chants calling for Harrison’s termination, adding that he was “locked in on the game” and listening to his coaches and teammates. Veteran shooting guard Klay Thompson said the blame should be shouldered by the players.
“You got to give ’em something to cheer for,” said Thompson, who had eight points on 2-of-7 shooting in only 17 minutes. “I got to give ’em something to cheer for. It’s the nature of the game, man. I’ve been there. I was a fan for 20 years before I got in the NBA. I would’ve definitely criticized players. I mean, we deserve a lot of criticism. We’re the ones out there making it happen.”
Thompson described his concern about Dallas’ slow start as “high” but expressed optimism that the Mavs would work their way out of the rut.
“There’s always this urgency,” Thompson said. “We’re all competitive. It’s embarrassing, especially for myself [after] talking championship preseason, all that. But I mean, it’s the only thing I play for at this point. So it’s not fun, but there’s only one way out. Stick together and get better and work even harder every day. I know I will, and I know the rest of the guys will. So it’s just a matter of being not patient, but just being relentless in our efforts.”
Asked about his concern level after the 0-2 start, Davis said, “Zero.” He stressed that the Mavs’ improvement needed to start on the defensive end, but Davis shot down a question about how the Mavs and Flagg would deal with adversity.
“This is adversity? What’s adversity?” Davis said. “We’ve got 80 games left. You can run off 10 straight [wins] and then what? This is how I look at it and I’m sure that’s how he looks at it, and that’s what we talked about. We know we have to be better on both ends of the floor, but the NBA season is a roller coaster, so we’re staying positive.”
The poor start is particularly foreign territory for the 18-year-old Flagg. In his only college season, Duke went 35-4 and never lost consecutive games.
“I know I’m kicking myself and I’m obviously not happy,” Flagg said. “I’m a little upset. I mean, it’s just I’m a competitor. I love to win and I want to win as many games as possible, so it’s not a great start. We got a lot of film to look at, a lot of stuff to look at and a lot to improve.”
