What happens when the man who shipped away your franchise icon faces the league’s most unfiltered truth‑teller? On the latest Inside the NBA, Charles Barkley zeroed in on Mavericks GM Nico Harrison, grilling him over the blockbuster three‑team deal that sent Luka Dončić to the Lakers and Anthony Davis to Dallas.
As ESPN insiders chronicle “firings, dysfunction, and chaos” in Dallas, one question hangs heavy: Can Harrison weather Barkley’s critique and rebuild the Mavericks’ fractured front office>

Before the Play-in and after the exit, Harrison did two press conferences. The former was dubbed a media roundtable with limited handpicked reporters, while the latter was open to all, seemingly mandatory by the league. Neither press conference helped Harrison’s image. On the recent broadcast of Inside the NBA, the crew gave the GM some important advice, starting with Shaquille O’Neal.

“My advice to you, brother, is just do your job and just go with the flow. As long as the owners got your back, you should be fine,” said Shaq. Agreeing with the thought process, even Charles Barkley chimed in.

“And the owner should have his back because clearly the owners threw him under the bus. I don’t know Nico that well. I know him a little bit. He not going to trade Luka Doncic without the owners doing that. And now he’s taking all the bullets and rightfully so, because that’s the job.” The ownership was hands-on with their process, at least that’s what Harrison has informed in the past.

Dallas feels like it’s flinging hope at the wall, hoping something sticks. But he does claim that Patrick Dumont was fully behind the idea once he provided clarity on the topic. “We’re a very process-oriented organization. And everything we do is without emotion and goes through the lens of process. And so once we had those substantive discussions, then he saw the vision.”

Charles Barkley is supporting the Mavs GM, despite the continuous media debacle with the vision

Before Chuck’s explanation about the owners being on board with the Luka trade, the TNT analyst also gave another advice for Harrison. “Man, don’t do no more press conferences.” This message is not the 76ers legend’s sentiment, but the entire media is saying the same. Why did this sentiment arise? Let’s look at the GM’s recent press conference answers.

“I did know that Luka was important to the fan base. I didn’t quite know it what level.” This was from the mandatory press conference, where Nico Harrison did double down on the decision-making. But at the same time, he did not really think about the extent of love that Doncic has from the fanbase. It was not just questioning the 26-year-old’s love, but the GM name-dropped Dirk Nowitzki in his earlier conference, not in a positive light.

“Some of those decisions are going to be unpopular, maybe to Dirk and maybe to the fans, but my obligation is to the Dallas Mavericks.” After these comments, reports emerged about the franchise legend Dirk Nowitzki, “completely turned off by this franchise.” That’s why the entire trade and aftermath have people calling for Nico Harrison to take more accountability.

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