Even after an event like the Super Bowl, no one from the Kansas City Chiefs or the Philadelphia Eagles would be the most hated man in the American sports world. That honor, for a while, will continue to be held by Nico Harrison. After all, without the Mavericks GM, one of the NBA’s most shocking trades wouldn’t have happened. And Luka Doncic would still be with the Mavs. Amidst such growing scrutiny, one strategy would have been to just wait things out by not risking too much public exposure. However, if there is one thing we have learned about Harrison, he has a unique mindset.

The Dallas Mavericks are hosting the Sacramento Kings at the American Airlines Center. Individuals who turned up at the court early were able to catch a glimpse of Nico Harrison in the building, too. The Mavericks GM was hanging out at the edge of the court, interacting with some officials and shaking hands with a few people who had occupied the courtside seats.

Well, it’s a good thing that the other seats around him were empty, or we could have seen a huge boo chant coming out wherever Harrison was going!

The GM made the appearance amidst reports from ESPN’s Tim McMahon that the Mavericks had plans to beef up security for the first game that the team played after Luka Doncic’s trade. Nico Harrison reportedly received death threats from unspecified individuals, prompting this action. Although the threats’ content remains largely unknown, McMahon reported that some included “racial epitaphs.”

The ESPN Insider further confirmed that the extra security measures prevented Harrison from being in his usual seat. From the looks of things, however, the GM is back to taking his usual spot.

As predicted, the Mavericks’ first home game since the trade saw 200 Dallas residents protest outside the American Airlines Center. The people in the crowd felt anguish over losing a generational talent like Luka Doncic. One of them stated, “They traded a franchise centerpiece, the face of the franchise, for a bag of Skittles”.

While it might be a little over the top to dump Anthony Davis and the rest of the trade pieces as “a bag of Skittles,“ AD being indefinitely injured in the first game itself doesn’t really help his case right now.

Nevertheless, the threat level does not seem to be too high for the ongoing game. After all, even Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont was back on his courtside seat tonight. If that wasn’t enough, the arena was also hosting Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson as one of the guests. It is a good thing that the Mavs officials feel safe enough now to ease security tensions.

Unfortunately, it will not help to get across the viewpoint that Tim McMahon had been emphasizing.

ESPN’s Tim McMahon lashed out at ‘wannabe’ reporter after a conflicting report on Nico Harrison put him in trouble

Tim McMahon is amongst those journalists in the NBA circle whose words are revered. After all, he has built a foundation on his credibility by covering the Mavericks for over 20 years. Unfortunately, his coverage of the death threats faced an unforeseen issue after Grant Afseth revealed his investigation into the matter.

He had a word with the Dallas Police Department’s Public Information Officer, who told him, “There are no known threats at this time” towards Nico Harrison. Under normal situations, this would be just one journalist contradicting another journalist’s claim with proof. Eventually, the thing would have been forgotten. Unfortunately, McMahon did not appreciate his reports being challenged.

“Let me just double down on that reporting. Because I’ve been ripped because Dallas Police Department told some wannabe journalist that ‘There’s no known threats to us’” said McMahon during an episode of ‘The Hoop Collective’ podcast. “Uh, folks, the Mavericks have security that’s literally been at the highest level of American law enforcement. The threats did not raise themselves to the level where they felt like they needed to be reported to police. But I guarantee you and I’ve heard from multiple sources that he’s received death threats.”

Grant Afseth himself was quick to respond to McMahon’s claims. Taking to X, he wrote, “I don’t think it’s fair to give a fanbase or the city of Dallas an undeserving reputation on global TV.” Given the protests before the first home game since the trade, McMahon was right the first time around.

However, considering Harrison and a few high-ranking Dallas officials are courtside, it’s safe to say the threats don’t seem particularly serious—for now. Both reporters were in the right to report the news like they did. It was unfortunate that they unintentionally got into each other’s crosshairs.

Whatever the case, it is nice to see the Dallas Mavericks get back to normal. Amidst the chaos of the trade, how they further progress remains to be seen.