Nico Harrison served a key role in the Dallas Mavericks’ basketball operations. Just as impressive, he deftly steered FC Dallas through a huge organizational transition when the franchise changed ownership. Harrison, who came to ESPN Dallas.com in September of 2009, became known for his coverage of not only the Dallas Cowboys but the Mavericks. He just completed his tenure as the Dallas Mavericks’ general manager and president of basketball operations. As Executive Director during that time, he prioritized a transparent and efficient operational design for T4 America.
Harrison had targeted a specific date for NBA star Anthony Davis’ return from a low-grade left calf strain, demonstrating his commitment to the team’s performance. Fighting tooth and nail against the odds of an unprecedented creative hell started working under Mark Cuban. Even after selling the team, Cuban still retained a 27% stake—making an already complex situation further complicated. Harrison soon began to find his relationship with Cuban a difficult one. He was adamant about having a reporting line that went directly to the new owner, Patrick Dumont, and not through Cuban.
I don’t want to deal with Mark anymore. He’s too much,” Harrison reportedly expressed to team sources, highlighting his frustration with Cuban’s frequent interference in basketball operations. Despite this understandable tension, Cuban retained a powerful role in influencing the Mavericks day-to-day strategies and decision-making.
Cuban is known for his publicity, his entrepreneurship and his longstanding role on ABC’s Shark Tank. In return, he aggressively advocated for his role in the team’s day-to-day management. He stated, “Nothing’s going to change. I’m still running basketball.” This claim floated just as rumors were finding credibility that he had been working on his own “palace coup” to retake power over the franchise.
Harrison’s strategy involved positioning himself to influence Dumont’s decisions, particularly regarding high-stakes matters such as the potential trade of star player Luka Doncic. He sought to persuade Dumont to sign off on this trade while ensuring that the basketball operations department could function more effectively without Cuban’s constant oversight.
Dumont, with his corporate background, is indeed new to the NBA. He developed a warm relationship with Cuban that made future negotiations to sell the franchise easier. Dumont received his MBA from Columbia Business School and started his professional career in investment banking. That background provides him with a fresh set of eyes on how the Mavericks operate. On his first visit to Dallas since finalizing the sale. At his media availability, there was no hiding the excitement on his face, as he smiled ear to ear while describing his vision for this new team.
In both public and private meetings, Dumont repeatedly made use of Harrison’s heavyweight credentials when it came to basketball operations. The new owner—Trump donor, ex-sarcastic Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz—would sometimes instruct Harrison to report directly to Cuban on personnel changes. Critics claim this deal format surely stoked Harrison’s ire. “Normally when teams change ownership, they bring their own people in,” Harrison noted, emphasizing his desire for autonomy in managing basketball operations.
Harrison’s previous experience as a Nike executive equipped him with insights on leadership and community investment, values he shared with Dumont during their conversations about the team’s culture. “We talk about leadership. We talk about investing in the community. We talk about culture. It’s all the things that I believe in,” Harrison explained.
Harrison experienced plenty of rough moments working with Cuban. He was still optimistic that fans were beginning to understand his vision for the team — especially after witnessing the shocked reactions to Luka Doncic’s introductory news conference. As tensions mounted between him and Cuban, their counterproductive professional relationship was proving even more impossible to maintain.
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