During Wednesday night’s clash between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks, fans at the American Airlines Center made their frustrations loud and clear. Chants of “FIRE NICO” echoed throughout the arena. It showed a renewed backlash toward Mavericks GM Nico Harrison, who has been under fire ever since the controversial Luka Doncic trade.
The scene turned especially uncomfortable for Harrison, who was in the building witnessing the outcry firsthand. Former team owner and current minority stakeholder Mark Cuban also appeared visibly upset by the chants. As the chants intensified, television cameras captured Cuban’s reaction. His expression said it all.
Mark Cuban was NOT happy with the “Fire Nico” chants 😳 pic.twitter.com/sTsHdbsNsb
— BricksCenter (@BricksCenter) April 10, 2025
Cuban has openly admitted his disagreement with the decision to trade Doncic. In fact, Cuban has gone on record saying he only found out about the trade after it was completed. Cuban claimed that had he still been the majority owner, he would have stepped in to block it from happening altogether.
Mark Cuban Reflects On Fan Backlash Over Luka Doncic Trade
Mark Cuban knows what it feels like to be on the receiving end of harsh criticism. Speaking with CBS Sports’ Ro Parrish, the Mavericks’ former owner addressed the heavy criticism now aimed at Nico Harrison.
“It is what it is. When you’re in an industry where if you win a championship, half a million people show up in the streets, so when you do something they don’t like, just as many people are mad. I feel bad for Nico and his family in particular. I’ve had people yell “sell the team” to me in the past…one of the reasons I sold was because social media gets mean. And it got mean,” Cuban said.
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The timing of these remarks came before Luka Doncic reminded Dallas fans what they lost. Now wearing purple and gold, the former Mavericks superstar dropped 35 points in a 112-97 victory for the Los Angeles Lakers over his former team.
