Former Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban has offered a brief take on his current relationship with team general manager Nico Harrison.
Harrison has quickly fallen out of favor with Mavericks fans, after riding high as recently as last June.
The funny thing about Nico Harrison is that, prior to the Luka Doncic disaster, he had actually been doing a pretty good job of building out his team.
Nico Harrison’s checkered record in Dallas
Harrison has constructed two very different rosters around former Dallas superstar guard Luka Doncic. The 2022 and ’24 clubs that advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals only shared a few role players in common beyond Doncic, in young guard Josh Green, veteran wing Tim Hardaway Jr., and reserve bigs Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber.
That 2024 Dallas club represented the franchise’s first Finals team since the 2011 champs.
Following the Mavericks’ five-game Finals defeat to the Boston Celtics, Harrison got to work seemingly upgrading his roster’s depth ahead of the 2024-25 season.
He swapped Klay Thompson in for Hardaway as a sharpshooting release valve for Doncic and Kyrie Irving, brought in Quentin Grimes to replace Josh Green, and signed 3-and-D small forward Naji Marshall when starter Derrick Jones Jr. left to sign with the L.A. Clippers.
The Mavericks appeared poised for another deep playoff run in 2025. Instead, Harrison traded away his best player to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package comprising 10-time All-Star center Anthony Davis — who’s six years older and has never been as good — wing Max Christie, and a first-round draft pick.
Understandably, Mark Cuban — and most of the basketball world at large — were stunned at the incredibly one-sided deal that gifted the Lakers with their next franchise superstar.
During a Tuesday appearance on the “DLLS Mavs Podcast,” Cuban offered some insight into his icy relationship with Harrison these days.
Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban was very direct today when I asked him about his relationship with GM Nico Harrison…
His answer tells you all you need to know #MFFL
(🎥: @DLLS_Mavs) pic.twitter.com/h1YC3yrVby
— Kevin Gray Jr. (@KevinGraySports) August 26, 2025
When asked if he has “the same of level of communication” with Harrison that he currently enjoys with majority owner Patrick Dumont and CEO Rick Welts, Cuban simply said, “No,” tried to elaborate in a half-sentence, and then circled back to the more concise “No” again for extra emphasis.
Distancing himself from Harrison in the wake of some truly bizarre press conferences, to say nothing of the Doncic decision, may be the right strategic play. It should endear Cuban to the Dallas faithful now, and allow him to look smart later when the Mavericks inevitably fire Harrison for his next disastrous team-building decision.
MORE NEWS: Ex-Mavericks big man agrees to deal with Lakers ahead of 2025-26 season
Elsewhere during the interview, Cuban elaborated on his decision to offload most of his 73 percent stake in the team for a reported $3.5 billion. He still reportedly owns a sizable minority piece of the pie, however.
“I’m sorry, I had to do what is best for my life and my family.”
Mark Cuban speaks on selling the Dallas Mavericks. pic.twitter.com/RO1rrpSIpf
— DLLS Mavs (@DLLS_Mavs) August 26, 2025
“I’m sorry, I had to do what’s best for my life and my family… You think I was going to live to 137 and just run the Mavs?” Cuban, 67, said. “Father Time is undefeated, and so something was going to happen at some point, no matter what. And I just wanted to do it on my terms.”
MORE NEWS: Mark Cuban gets honest about Mavericks’ blockbuster Luka Doncic trade
