“I think there’s just too many distractions, too much going on to keep going this way. This move should have probably happened this summer, honestly,” Nowitzki said on “NBA on Prime” on Friday. “I didn’t want this negative energy and this black cloud over the Cooper Flagg era, but here we are now. I just knew, I figured this fan base is a passionate and loyal fan base — I was lucky enough to experience it for 21 years — and I knew they weren’t just [going] to get over it, as people say, or forget about it.”
Harrison’s trade of superstar Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers in February was controversial, to say the least. Fans have strongly protested the general manager ever since with “fire Nico” chants becoming a regular occurrence at American Airlines Center, much to the chagrin of some Mavs.
“This trade just made no sense,” Nowitzki said. “It made no sense to [the fans], and really there was no explanation for it, either. You go the Finals the year before, you give up all these assets, to build really the team around Luka with some 6-9 wings that all can switch and guard for him. You had two lob threats with [Daniel] Gafford and [Dereck] Lively, and the team was built around [Dončić].
“You added Klay [Thompson], which the shooting was a little bit of an issue in the Finals against Boston. You did all this, they started the following season well. Going into Christmas Day game they were 14-3 out of the last 17 games, so they’re just starting to hit their stride, and then Luka gets hurt and unfortunately that's the last game he’s ever played in a Mavs uniform.
“It was very sad. It was very sad how that ended, and it felt like the fans feel like they got robbed of actually seeing the end, seeing this through, seeing Luka develop into hopefully a champion one day. ... Very heartbreaking, but now I think it’s time to move on. It’s time to move on now, focus on this team, on this franchise. This definitely set the franchise back.”
Nowitzki’s words echo those of Mavs coach Jason Kidd, who said it was time to move on heading into the team’s first post-Harrison game, against the Phoenix Suns, and support the team on the floor.
Game schedule dates, times, locations
NEXT UP: Game dates, times, locations, channel
Rangers ▶
June 22 Rangers 4, Miami 3
June 23 Miami 6, Rangers 4
June 24 Miami 4, Rangers 2
June 25 Rangers 6, Toronto 5
June 26 Rangers 5, Toronto 4
June 27 Rangers 7, Toronto 4
June 28 Rangers 3, Toronto 2
June 29 at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m., ESPN
June 30 at Cleveland, 5:40 p.m., RSN
July 1 at Cleveland, 12:10 p.m., RSN
July 2 vs. Detroit, 7:05 p.m., RSN
July 4 vs. Detroit, 3:05 p.m., RSN
July 5 vs. Detroit, 2:30 p.m., NBCSN, Peacock
Wings▶
June 17 Golden State 91, Wings 80
June 20 Wings 93, Chicago 92
June 22 Wings 112, Seattle 110 (OT)
June 25 Las Vegas 99, Wings 84
June 28 Minnesota 85, Wings 77
July 2 at Connecticut, 7 p.m., KFAA, Amazon Prime Video
July 5 at Toronto, 2 p.m., KFAA
July 7 at New York, 7 p.m., ESPN
July 10 vs. Toronto (at Montreal), 6:30 p.m., Ion
July 12 vs. Chicago (at American Airlines Center), 6 p.m., ESPN, Disney+
TCU Football ▶
2026 season
Aug. 29 vs. North Carolina (at Dublin), 11 a.m., ESPN
Sept. 12 vs. Grambling State, 7 p.m., ESPN+
Sept. 19 vs. Arkansas State, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Sept. 26 at Central Florida, TBA
Oct. 3 vs. BYU, TBA
Oct. 17 at Baylor, TBA
Oct. 24 vs. West Virginia, TBA
Oct. 31 vs. Kansas, TBA
Nov. 6 at Arizona, 9:15 p.m., ESPN
Nov. 14 vs. Kansas State, TBA
Nov. 21 vs. Utah, TBA
Nov. 26 at Texas Tech, 7 p.m., ESPN
Cowboys ▶
Sept. 13 at N.Y. Giants, 7:20 p.m., NBC
Sept. 20 vs. Washington, 3:25 p.m., Fox
Sept. 27 vs. Baltimore (at Rio de Janeiro), 3:25 p.m., CBS
Oct. 4 at Houston, 12 p.m., Fox
Oct. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, 7:15 p.m., Amazon Prime Video
Oct. 18 at Green Bay, 7:20 p.m., NBC
Oct. 26 at Philadelphia, 7:15 p.m., ESPN, ABC
Nov. 1 vs. Arizona, 12 p.m., Fox
Nov. 8 at Indianapolis, 12 p.m., Fox
Nov. 15 vs. San Francisco, 3:25 p.m., Fox
Nov. 22 vs. Tennessee, 12 p.m., Fox
Nov. 26 vs. Philadelphia, 3:30 p.m., Fox
Dec. 7 at Seattle, 7:15 p.m., ESPN, ABC
Dec. 20 at L.A. Rams, 3:25 p.m., CBS
Dec. 27 vs. Jacksonville, 7:20 p.m., NBC
Jan. 3 vs. N.Y. Giants, 12 p.m., Fox
Jan. 9 or 10 at Washington, TBA
World Cup ▶
All local matches at AT&T Stadium
Group stage
June 14 Japan 2, Netherlands 2 (Group F)
June 17 England 4, Croatia 2 (Group L)
June 22 Argentina 2, Austria 0 (Group J)
June 25 Japan 1, Sweden 1 (Group F)
June 27 Argentina 3, Jordan 1 (Group J)
Knockout round
June 30 Norway 2, Ivory Coast 1 (round of 32)
July 3 Round of 32: Australia vs. Egypt, 1 p.m., Fox
July 6 Round of 16: Teams TBD, 2 p.m., Fox
July 14 Semifinal: Teams TBD, 2 p.m., Fox
FC Dallas ▶
May 2 FC Dallas 2, NY Red Bulls 0
May 9 FC Dallas 3, Salt Lake 1
May 13 Vancouver 3, FC Dallas 2
May 16 FC Dallas 3, San Jose 2
May 23 FC Dallas 2, Colorado 1
World Cup break
July 22 at Portland, 9:30 p.m., Apple TV
July 25 at San Diego, 8:30 p.m., FS1, Apple TV
Texas Motor Speedway ▶
July 11 NASCAR Racing Experience
July 11 Hearts in High Gear
July 25 Drift n Drag
Aug. 1 NASCAR Racing Experience
Aug. 29 Team Texas: David Starr's Racing School
Sept. 5 NASCAR Racing Experience
This story was originally published November 14, 2025 at 9:27 PM.
Lawrence Dow is a digital sports reporter from Philadelphia. He graduated with a master’s degree in journalism from USC. He’s passionate about movies and is always looking for a great book. He covers the Texas Rangers and other sports.
