A trade that only turned fans away, but even the franchise icon. Yes, Dallas Mavericks GM’s decision to trade away Luka Doncic brought discontent to fans and even Dirk Nowitzki. To make matters worse, just recently, Nico Harrison did a bizarre press interview, stayed firm on his decision, and dissed the German legend. That led to reports about the 46-year-old being discontent, and there is a further update about the reasons behind it.

“Some of those decisions are going to be unpopular, maybe to Dirk and maybe to the fans, but my obligation is to the Dallas Mavericks.” This statement from the GM was from the private media roundtable. One of the few attendees, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, summarized the situation: “First of all, Dirk is completely turned off by this franchise.”

Naturally, MacMahon did inquire during the roundtable about fans, and Dirk Nowitzki not being onboard with the decision. And the answer made the matter worse. “But I asked, ‘Hey, why not seek Dirk’s input? Why not seek Cuban’s input?’ And he basically said, ‘If they’re not in the building, they don’t know what’s going on.’” The Hall of Famer, who spent all his life with the Dallas team, has an office in the organization. But there is a reason why the lights in the office are off.

As per The Stein Line reports, while Dirk Nowitzki still has an office at the Mavericks facility, though “it essentially sits dark.” The discontent is not only from the Luka trade but also about the treatment of longtime Mavs trainer Casey Smith. Since the 2004-05 NBA season (including during their 2011 title), Smith has been part of the team, but was demoted in October 2023. This “is believed to be among the key factors, as Nowitzki’s distance from the Mavericks organization grows.

Previously, MacMahon also reported that Smith has had very strong relationships with Dallas players over the years, including both Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic. So, the culmination of issues is why the franchise icon has developed some reported issues. But he is not the only former player enraged by the team’s decision.

Former NBA veteran unleashes fiery rant after Dirk Nowitzki disrespect

The private press conference did more harm than good for the Mavs GM. It was the first time Nico Harrison finally broke his silence after the Luka Doncic trade. But that backfired thanks to the comments about not caring and name-dropping, Dirk Nowitzki wasn’t a bright idea. One of the former players turned analyst, Chandler Parsons, did not hold back criticizing the statement.

“Imagine the GM of the Spurs makes a trade and says, ‘I don’t care what Tim Duncan thinks.’” That’s how Parsons kicked off his fiery rant on Run It Back. “He brought up the best Mav of all time just to say his opinion doesn’t matter… I don’t understand how they let him do this.” This was not all. Parsons straight-up called Nico Harrison’s comments “tone-deaf, disrespectful, and cowardly.”

Now we know what MacMahon’s comments about Dirk Nowitzki being “turned off” by his former team mean. In fact, the ESPN veteran also indicated that there’s something else at play. Even though the German legend hasn’t said a word, Parsons and Mark Cuban came in and voiced their opinion against the disrespect of the franchise legend.