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Mavericks Draft Watch Party Erupts in ‘Fire Nico’ Chants Ahead of Cooper Flagg Pick
The Dallas Mavericks made it official by taking Duke star Cooper Flagg the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft on Wednesday night. While an exciting new era has officially begun, some fans are still not over the previous Luka Doncic era which unceremoniously ended when general manager Nico Harrison traded Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
You can tell some fans are still upset about that whole situation because there were people chanting "Fire Nico" at the Mavericks' official draft watch party at American Airlines Center right before the team took Flagg with the first pick.
“Fire Nico” chants at the AAC for the Dallas Mavericks Draft Watch Party.
— Noah Weber (@noahweber00) June 26, 2025
Dallas is currently on the clock with the No. 1 pick. pic.twitter.com/qmYnQw2ePb
Fire Nico chants in the AAC pic.twitter.com/IinZ3fQvnu
— Emmanuel Diaz (@Emmanuel_Diaz2) June 26, 2025
Harrison is clearly going to have to do a lot more than literally win the lottery if he expects Mavericks fans to get over the Luka Doncic trade. People have been doing this for months, and it seems unlikely the chants end anytime soon.
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Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.