Mavericks GM gets hero’s welcome from Lakers fans following Luka Doncic trade

Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison may have had to stop showing his face at his own team’s games, but he is totally safe and appreciated by the fans of the team he sent Luka Doncic to.

NBA general managers usually don’t evaluate their own trades based on the reaction of opposing fans, but it’s easy to wonder if Mavericks GM Nico Harrison might have been having at least a few second thoughts as he attended his team’s first game against the star he exiled to Los Angeles, Luka Doncic, on Tuesday night.

And Doncic, who was screaming in his ex-team’s direction after nearly every basket, wasn’t the only person in the building letting the Mavericks know how they felt about the deal. In good news for Harrison, the other reactions he was getting were much more positive. In bad news, that positivity was really just sarcastic, mocking thank yous from Lakers fans for making a deal that appeared doomed to go down as one of the worst trades in NBA history the moment it happened.

Pregame, Melissa Rohlin of Fox Sports reported that Lakers fans near the team’s tunnel were showering Harrison with cheers for handing them a 25-year-old superstar who has reopened L.A.’s title window both now and in the future…

…but it didn’t stop there, as veteran NBA freelance journalist Mark Medina posted that Lakers fans were still thanking Harrison as Doncic went for 12 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists in the first half:

On the bright side, this is a much warmer reception for Harrison than he’s receiving from Mavericks fans, who have protested both outside and inside the arena while calling for him to be fired in the aftermath of the trade that made him public enemy No. 1 in Dallas. So at least he’s not having to get anyone thrown out for being mean, which is probably an improvement.

However, again… if you make a trade that has the other team’s fans treating you like a heroic double agent in their home arena… well, you might want to at the very least start updating your LinkedIn page so that maybe their team can hire you when you become available. Something that may happen sooner rather than later if the Lakers and Mavs keep trending in their current directions.