One man became the common villain in Dallas after Luka Doncic was traded. Former Mavericks GM Nico Harrison couldn’t walk without being confronted. He even had to hire security. Fans didn’t leave a single opportunity to make their feelings heard. However, Anthony Davis, the protagonist of Harrison’s vision, doesn’t feel he deserved the backlash.

Davis saw Harrison’s actions as brave. “When you sit in that seat, you have to make decisions that m———–s are scared to make,” he said on The Draymond Green Show. Parting ways with a former franchise prodigy was always going to upset the fans. But Nico Harrison chose to go with this vision. The ten-time All-Star also respected Harrison’s vision. Davis felt the former Mavericks general manager’s chessboard had every piece. Unfortunately, the Mavericks’ player availability never allowed for those plans to take shape.

“We just didn’t have the opportunity to show it, right? You know, you get Coop, the number one pick, paired with myself, Kyrie, you got PJ, Live foot, his whole foot was messed up, you know what I’m saying? He had foot surgery, so he couldn’t play. Gab training camp, rolled his ankle, was out for a while… It’s like we got these pieces but we couldn’t never put them together because of injuries,” AD added.

Health surely hurt them. Kyrie Irving was expected to miss the entire season. Dereck Lively II was also ruled out for the season with an injury. Anthony Davis only played 29 games as a Maverick over a year. Nico Harrison’s plans never got off the ground because they never got a fair shot. That’s why Davis said, “I think the criticism was unwarranted.”

The only part that wasn’t considered was landing Cooper Flagg. The coveted first pick landed in the Mavericks’ laps by luck. Do the Mavericks have a decent chance without the sensational rookie? At this point, it’s useless to debate these things. AD has moved on, and Harrison’s mindset is gone.

Anthony Davis doesn’t think success would have eliminated Dallas’ fury

The Dallas community was beyond hurt when the team traded Luka Doncic. Everything felt off. The secrecy behind the deal meant Mavericks fans didn’t have a clue what was happening. It felt like an open betrayal, causing fans to lash out. Anthony Davis now wishes the team could have had the chance to evolve together and achieve Harrison’s goals.

That being said, The Brow also feels winning wouldn’t have made a difference to the tense standoff between the team and the fans.

“I say this all the time, I feel like we could have won 60 games. We could have, you know, traded for Michael Jordan. Like, we could have did whatever. I think it would have always been like a cloud over Dallas because Luka wasn’t there, you know? Not more so like who we got, but it’s just like they missed, you know, they missed and slash miss Luka so much,” Davis admitted.

Another thing Anthony Davis felt went against the Mavericks was Luka Doncic’s subsequent success. This season, he’s leading the league in scoring. He eradicated doubts about his fitness. Lakers head coach JJ Redick said Doncic may be in the best shape of his life. These were the reasons the Mavericks stated for making the trade.

But if we take a step back, we’ve seen this kind of situation before. When teams go all-in on star power, it can go either way, and sometimes, the cost shows up years later.

A good example is what the Brooklyn Nets did back in 2013. They traded for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce from the Boston Celtics, hoping to build a championship contender right away. To make it happen, they gave up multiple future first-round picks, assets that eventually turned into Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, along with young players and depth pieces.

At the time, the move was heavily criticized. People questioned whether it was worth sacrificing the future for a short-term shot. And while the Nets had some solid moments, the experiment didn’t lead to a title. In the end, they were left without much draft capital, while Boston used those picks to build a strong, long-term contender.

That’s what makes Harrison’s approach feel like a make-or-break. On one hand, betting on proven stars can fast-track a team into contention. On the other hand, if things don’t click, the consequences can linger for years.

So Davis’s support matters, but history shows that belief alone doesn’t guarantee success. It just makes the outcome that much more important.

It deepened the resentment already simmering among Dallas fans. Faced with relentless hostility at every home game, the Mavericks were compelled to act. Firing Nico Harrison was seen as a necessary step toward mending their fractured relationship with the fanbase.

They’ve now sparked some excitement by handing Cooper Flagg the keys to the franchise. But there will always be some curiosity over what the team with AD could have achieved.