Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg kept it diplomatic when asked about the organization’s decision to fire general manager Nico Harrison.
"Obviously, I didn't have an incredibly long relationship with Nico, but from what I knew, he seemed like a great guy and we had a really solid relationship," Flagg said. "At the end of the day, I’m here to play basketball, and whatever goes on above me is above me. I can't worry about it too much. I'm going to keep trying to show up and be who I am and try to be better every single day."
Like Flagg stated, he didn’t have a very long relationship with Harrison, so he might not have felt extreme emotions regarding the move one way or another. But, Harrison was the GM who drafted Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick in June and made his basketball dreams come true, so there was probably some affinity there.
At this point, Flagg – and everybody else in Dallas – is probably just happy to move on. The uncertainty surrounding Harrison’s future was a black cloud hovering over the organization, and now it has passed.
Now, the full focus can be on improving the on-court product. The Mavs have won just three of their first 12 games and sit near the bottom of the standings in the Western Conference as a result.
Flagg recently admitted that he was having a tough time dealing with the losing that he has experienced early in his rookie campaign.
“For me it’s the most I’ve lost since, you know, I think ever,” Flagg said last week. “So it’s obviously a lot different. And you just have to adapt to just playing a lot more games and get used to that.
"I wouldn’t say anybody is happy," he added. "Guys obviously are trying to stay levelheaded and know that we got a lot more games to go and it’s still really early. But just speaking personally, it’s not fun to just keep losing and losing games.”
Removing Harrison won't immediately make the team better, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.