"It's kind of a joke": Nico Harrison brushes off Casey Smith fallout as Mavs' turmoil reaches new heights

Less than one year ago, the Dallas Mavericks made it to the NBA Finals. Fast forward to today, and their season has already ended with their two best players injured. The Luka Doncic trade and the way he's handled the ripple effect have turned General Manager Nico Harrison into public enemy No. 1 in Dallas.

However, he continues to double down on his decision, and he's engaged in a back-and-forth with the media, the fans and even team legend Dirk Nowitzki.

In the wake of all the injuries, local media questioned him about the decision made in 2023 to fire Casey Smith, Dallas' director of health and performance, and a long-term member of Nowitzki's inner circle.

Nowitzki often credited Smith for helping him extend his career for two decades. Harrison, however, shut down that narrative right away, according to ESPN:

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"You bringing up Casey [Smith] is, like, almost, it's kind of a joke," Harrison reportedly said Tuesday during an availability with selected Dallas-based reporters. "Like, last year, Casey wasn't around, and we made it to the Finals. No one brought up Casey last year. So, to bring him up this year doesn't really make sense. He's been away for two years. So it's -- I'm not even going to comment on that."

Anthony Davis' injury might be on Nico Harrison

ESPN's report states that Nico Harrison felt threatened by Smith's weight in the organization, so he fired him to send a message. Then, he replaced him with a new director of player health and performance, Johann Bilsborough.

Given the harsh criticism he faced for the Luka Doncic trade, Anthony Davis, who was dealing with a left adductor strain, rushed his way back to the court to make a strong first impression in his debut. He got hurt as a result:

"With Harrison under fire, Davis was motivated to make a strong first impression to the outraged Mavs fan base in the first home game after the shocking blockbuster deal. He acknowledged that he should have waited another game or two to return, but Davis said it was his decision made in consultation with his personal medical team and Bilsborough," added the report.

Everything that could've gone wrong for the Mavericks has gone wrong in the past couple of months. And while he's not the only one making decisions for the team, Nico Harrison will still take most of the blame for this situation.

Edited by Victor R. Lopez M.