Nico Harrison, the Dallas GM who traded Doncic, lost Curry to Nike back in 2013.
On the night of February 2, the NBA was literally rocked by the news of a trade involving none other than Dallas' beloved son, Luka Dončić! Nico Harrison dared to touch the sacred, sending the Slovenian superstar to conquer California as part of the Los Angeles Lakers. In return, he got what he wanted – Anthony Davis.
We have already discussed the playing and not-so-playing reasons behind this decision. Today, there will be no theories related to gambling laws in Texas or the involvement of Dallas owners. Instead, we want to share a bit more about the man who has entered NBA history as the author of the most sensational trade in the history of the best league in the world.
Playing Past
It may seem strange to some, but Nico Harrison is far from a newcomer in the world of basketball. In his youth, he played at the college level, but an ankle fracture and a torn cartilage in his big toe during his last two years of college raised doubts about his entire future career.
The phrase from Colin Farrell's character in the film "In Bruges" perfectly fits Harrison's basketball career (those who understand, understand).
In 1996, he declared for the NBA draft – without success. After not getting a chance from any teams, even as an undrafted player, Nico, who played as a forward, went to conquer Belgium, where he spent one season with the Leuven Bears. The following season, he returned to the States to play for the Black Hills Posse in the IBA league. His already short career ended in 2001 after two seasons with Japan's Hitachi Honsha Rising Sun (now the Sun Rockers Shibuya, if anyone is interested) and a year in Lebanon.
Nike
After his basketball career ended, Nico Harrison returned to Oregon, where he previously played for a local school. However, his first job after his playing days was not related to basketball or sports at all. Harrison became a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company.
In 2002, a friend informed him that a well-known company had a vacancy for a regional representative in the NBA, which he, of course, applied for. This company was Nike. Harrison's application was approved, and he was hired, which led him to... Dallas (here's the first encounter for Nico with the Mavs), where the company's office was located.
Interestingly, through this job, Harrison later represented well-known players like Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, Michael Finley, and Jermaine O'Neal. Within a year, he was promoted to national marketing representative, which led to working with Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
Another fact for the future: During his time at Nike, Harrison pulled off a rather high-profile deal. Together with his long-time friend Rob Pelinka, Nico lured Bryant away from Adidas, making him an athlete for the American company. What does that have to do with the current GM of the Lakers? It’s simple; at that time, Rob was "Black Mamba's" agent, so negotiating with the client to switch to a company of an old acquaintance was not a difficult task.
3Harrison's work at Nike did not go unnoticed, as he was subsequently promoted again, becoming the Vice President of Basketball Operations in North America, a position he held until 2021 when Nico became the GM of the Mavericks. One would think that such a valuable asset must have had everything perfectly in place. But no, even in his story, there were outright failures.
Stephen? Stefon? Or maybe Seth?
Under Armour probably sends Nico Harrison a gift basket every Christmas because that’s the least they can do for the person who literally gifted them a brand gem in the form of Steph Curry.
Back in 2013, the young star of the Golden State still had a contract with Nike, which the parties planned to renegotiate. To convince the basketball player of the correctness of the choice, Harrison prepared a presentation. Well, how can I say he prepared...
That day, Nico would probably like to forget like a bad dream, because that presentation turned out to be a complete disaster, probably the biggest failure of his career up to that point.
It was Harrison who caused "Chef" to leave Nike for Under Armour. To pull off such a stunt, only a few components were needed. Throughout the conference, Nico referred to the player as StefOn and even Seth (hello to his brother), but never as StefEn. To amplify this effect, Harrison used slides that had previously been prepared for Kevin Durant. What ultimately sealed Steph’s fate was that he was never offered a signature shoe line, which he later received from Under Armour. A failure? You bet!
4Beginning of the Career in Dallas: What’s Wrong with Brunson?
But one failure did not deter then-owner of the Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban, who decided to call Nico Harrison to take up the roles of general manager and president of basketball operations for his team. In this role, he replaced Donnie Nelson, the son of NBA legend Don Nelson. This appointment coincided with the arrival of Jason Kidd (NBA champion 2011 with Dallas, by the way!) as head coach – a team reboot was underway.
In his first year in the new positions, Harrison made a decision that is now considered another one of his failures. However, it should be noted that at the time, it didn’t seem like a failure.
During the 2021 offseason, Jalen Brunson had the right to extend his contract with the Mavericks. Moreover, at that time, the player was willing to accept what today seems like a laughably low amount: $55 million over four years. But the front office led by Nico did not dare to offer the then-unknown point guard such money. They wanted to see the player over the first 20-25 games of the regular season before making any decisions.
The season progressed, Brunson's potential grew, and it became increasingly evident, causing the Texas management to start getting nervous, as in the summer of 2022, Jalen could become a free agent. Showing his full class during Dončić's injury, Brunson established himself as a potential All-Star-level star. He performed even better in the postseason, where Dallas managed to reach the conference finals, humiliating Phoenix in seven games – they were only stopped by Golden State, which, like a phoenix, rose from the ashes in pursuit of another "nut."
5It is worth noting that as the trade deadline approached, Brunson thought he would be traded. But that didn’t happen. Instead, he was given the opportunity to grow in a team that didn’t know what to do with him.
The Mavericks finally understood what Brunson was capable of. But the front office believed the player would agree to the terms from a year ago. Only it was too late – Jalen declared he had outgrown that offer. Moreover, the New York Knicks appeared on the horizon, where the player's father was employed. In short, all the stars aligned, and father and son united in the Knicks organization, where Jalen received $156 million for the same four years.
For the sake of fairness, one cannot exclude the possibility that Jalen Brunson would not have become the same Jalen Brunson we all know today if he had remained in Dallas. After all, the conditions were different, and it’s unlikely that the 28-year-old guard would have progressed as much under Dončić as he did as the first fiddle in New York.
But there were successes, right?
Yes, there were, and quite significant ones! Regardless of the failures associated with Harrison, one cannot overlook his successful and sometimes very risky actions.
After all, he did everything possible to bring Kyrie Irving to Texas. Although he was criticized for that trade at the time, it did play a role, didn’t it? And although that season the Mavericks managed to slip out of the Top 5 in the West and missed the postseason entirely, Harrison continued to assemble a team for a championship run.
6For this purpose, a year ago, Nico took a few more risky steps. It all started with a bold move in the NBA Draft, where he selected Derek Lively with the 12th pick, securing a multi-year contract extension for himself. It continued closer to the trade deadline, swapping out questionable characters at the time, namely Daniel Gafford and