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Charles Barkley Sounded Off on Nico Harrison Firing: ‘He’s Being Made a Scapegoat’
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The Mavericks ripped off the bandaid Tuesday when they canned general manager Nico Harrison nine months after he made one of the most shocking moves in NBA history by sending superstar guard Luka Dončić to the Lakers.
Owner Patrick Dumont decided to part ways with Harrison as he hopes to win back the fan base after extreme discontent directed toward the now former GM, even after the Mavs found incredible lottery luck and won the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes. Dallas plays their first home game Wednesday after the Harrison chapter officially came to a close.
Charles Barkley spoke on the move on ESPN Wednesday and he thinks the contentious GM didn’t get a fair shake, stating there were other factors at play in letting the Dončić deal go through.
“The Mavs were a mediocre team until he made those trades and he was doing a good job,” Barkley said on ESPN. “Then he had the bad luck of Anthony Davis never being available basically.
“But the thing that bothers me is he’s just being made a scapegoat. Listen, Shaq knows this, Kenny knows this, there’s no way in the world Nico Harrison had the power to trade Luka Dončić unless the owner of the team signed off on it. That was his call, so I feel bad the way Nico’s being made a scapegoat.”
"There's no way in the world Nico Harrison had the power to trade Luka Doncic unless the owner of the team signed off on it. ... I feel bad the way Nico's being made a scapegoat."
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 13, 2025
Charles Barkley weighs in on the Mavericks parting ways with GM Nico Harrison. pic.twitter.com/ooMEl0a7iy
He harped on the fact that Harrison saw bad luck with the injuries to Davis and star guard Kyrie Irving, mentioning it wasn’t just one individual that made the highly questionable trade, it was the entire organization.
Whether Dumont truly scapegoated his former GM and if the owner is equally to blame is in the past as the franchise looks to rebuild around Flagg.
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Blake Silverman is a writer at Sports Illustrated, primarily covering the NBA and WNBA. Before joining SI in November 2024 as a breaking/trending news writer, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation and A10Talk. He’s an alum of both Michigan State and St. Bonaventure University, receiving a master’s degree from the Bonnies’ sports journalism program. Outside of work, he’s a husband, father, yogi and fairly mediocre tennis player who’s open to any tips on how to play defense in EA Sports College Football.