The Dallas Mavericks couldn’t catch a break in what has been a nightmare season already.
Just a month after stunning the entire sports world by sending Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Dallas Mavericks endured yet another gut-wrenching blow regarding Kyrie Irving.
Irving, who now finds himself as the Mavs’ alpha after the painful departure of the Slovenian superstar, went down last March 3 against the Sacramento Kings with an apparent knee sprain which turned out to be a season-ending torn ACL injury.
The writing was on the wall already that the injury was serious upon Jason Kidd’s cryptic postgame remarks. After the news was confirmed, Kendrick Perkins offered a suggestion for the Mavs to shut it down for the season.
Although fans have criticized him once again after Irving’s injury, Nico Harrison remains calm and spirited about Dallas’ situation right now.
In the wake of Irving being out for the rest of 2024-25, the embattle Mavericks general manager penned down his very own heartwarming statement for the 32-year-old star.
Here is the full message: “There aren’t words to fully describe who Kyrie Irving is to this team or what he means to us as an organization.
“Kyrie is the heart and soul of this team, and he has embraced the city of Dallas as his home and our fans as an extension of his own family.
“I’ve been fortunate to have witnessed his journey, his continued evolution and growth over the years, and am incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to see him approach the game of basketball with the same energy and fierce passion for the game that he did as a young man on the verge of his career.
“His work ethic and absolute dedication to his craft, it’s cut from the cloth of greats. I know it, I lived it, and I see the same ferocity and passion in him that I saw in Kobe.
“All my thoughts and that of our staff are with Kyrie and his family, and we are confident that he will come back from this stronger than ever just like he always has.”
Ever since the departure of Doncic, no other player within the Mavs has shouldered the team’s load more than Irving. The All-Star had no choice because his newest co-star in Anthony Davis went down right at his Dallas debut and remains unavailable to play.
Out of Harrison’s statement, several fans offered scathing comments against the Dallas top executive across social media.
“Nico, get the [expletive] out of my team and my state,” a Mavs fan said.
“I have no idea why he needs to release this statement, he could’ve left out that paragraph in the middle and most would be fine with it (expert Mavs fans),” a random fan argued. “It’s as if he wanted to insert him and Kobe in there for whatever reason.”
“STOP TALKING YOU AREN’T HELPING,” another Mavs fan intensely reacted.
Despite benefitting the most out of the Doncic trade, a Lakers fan offered his own criticism: “Everything he says in this message infuriates me and I’m a Lakers fan, a beneficiary of his madness. He may be one of the most pathetic GM’s in league history.”
“Leave Kobe out of this,” another LA faithful echoed.
With an anonymous fan dropping a significant take: “Everything Nico Harrison says or does for the rest of his time as a Dallas Mavericks executive will be judged by that god awful Luka trade. And rightfully so.”
Harrison maintains his stand as the most disliked man in basketball, and it appears that his statement about Irving has not helped help him to erase that reputation.
