The win-now Dallas Mavericks constructed by general manager Nico Harrison crashed out of the NBA play-in tournament with a loss at the Memphis Grizzlies in the game to decide the eight seed in the Western Conference.
The Mavs were easily beaten by the Grizzlies 120-106, but it didn’t end without some insult added to injury for Harrison in the most literal way possible.
In the fourth quarter of the contest, Anthony Davis shot an airball and then limped to the bench. This is the same Anthony Davis that Harrison traded straight up for Luka Dončić in what has widely been considered to be one of the worst trades in the history of sports.
And as Anthony Davis struggled to walk off the court, ESPN cameras cut to Nico Harrison in the stands with a stone cold look on his face in what may be the most genius and most brutal camera cut of all time.
Bro look at this, ESPN was ready to put the camera on Nico Harrison 😂😂pic.twitter.com/39aKWAalFK https://t.co/eqxPfMasc3
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) April 19, 2025
Nico Harrison has attempted to defend the trade of Dončić for Davis by saying “defense wins championships” and that the move needed to be made to get the franchise over the hump to win a title. He did so not in front of the cameras, but in a closed door meeting with reporters last week. Of course, this is in spite of Luka leading the Mavs to the NBA Finals last year.
All of the reasons why you wouldn’t do the trade came back to bite Harrison and the Mavs almost immediately. Doncic boosted the Lakers to the #3 seed out west. And Davis’ long history of injury trouble hit in his first and last game with the team this season. Once Kyrie Irving also went down with an injury, their season was basically over.
That was confirmed on Friday night in Memphis. And credit to ESPN for finding the exact perfect time when Nico Harrison could look upon his creation in all its miserable glory. The only thing missing was Nero’s fiddle.
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