Dallas’ “passionate” fans are still reeling from the trade at sent All-NBA superstar Luka Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis<\/a>, All-NBA guard Kyrie Irving<\/a> is out for most of the season with an ACL\u00a0injury, Davis is injured, No1 Draft pick Cooper Flagg played point guard<\/a> early in the season … and the Mavericks just fired GM\u00a0Nico Harrison, who \u00a0fans aggressively turned on at home games.<\/p>\n Superstar Dirk Nowitzki<\/a>, who played all 21 seasons of his NBA championship and All-NBA\u00a0career in Dallas, spoke emotionally yesterday about the need for the franchise to rebuild itself post Luka and, now Harrison.<\/p>\n “There were just too many distractions, too much going on to keep going this way,” Nowitzki said.<\/p>\n “This move probably should have happened this summer. I didn\u2019t want this negative energy and this black cloud over the Cooper flag era, but here we are.<\/p>\n “This fanbase is a passionate and loyal fanbase. I was lucky enough to experience it for 21 years. I knew they weren\u2019t just going to get over it or forget about it. They\u2019re extremely passionate. This trade made no sense to them, and really there was no explanation for it.<\/p>\n “You go to the Finals the year before. You gave up all these assets to build the team around Luka with some 6\u20199\u201d wings that could switch and guard. You had two lob threats with Gafford and Lively, and the team was built around them. You added Klay (Thompson), because shooting was a bit of an issue in the Finals against Boston.<\/p>\n “They started the following season well. Going into the Christmas Day game they were 14\u20133 in their last 17 games. They were just starting to hit their stride. Then Luka gets hurt, and unfortunately that\u2019s the last game he ever played in a Mavs uniform.<\/p>\n “It was very sad how that ended. The fans feel like they got robbed of seeing the end, seeing this through, seeing Luka develop into hopefully a champion one day. They never got to see the end of this.<\/p>\n “So it was very heartbreaking. But now it\u2019s time to move on. It\u2019s time to focus on this team and this franchise. This definitely set the franchise back, but now it\u2019s about building it back up. This team is struggling a bit and needs all the support it can get. Hopefully we can have a good year from here on out and cheer the team up.”<\/p>\n There is no timetable for the return of Exum, nor Davis. Davis is now being talked about as a potential trade target for the Chicago Bulls<\/a>.<\/p>\n To make matters even tougher for Mavs fans, Doncic trimmed down in the off-season and is playing at an All-NBA level for the Lakers<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/6918daec2d414e4ccb0503d5_GettyImages-2201410854.jpg\")
Dante Exum #0 of the Dallas Mavericks and Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers embrace after the game on February 26, 2025 (AEDT)\u00a0at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. Photo: Nathaniel S. Butler\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n