The Mavs’ chaotic season has finally come to an end. As expected, the heartbroken Dallas fanbase is blaming Nico Harrison for it. Well, it was his controversial decision to trade Luka Doncic that sparked the chain reaction leading to their eventual Play-in exit. But apart from Luka’s departure, there was one more key reason that led to their failed campaign – Injuries.
Over the course of this season, the Mavs lost their primary superstars Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis for a major chunk due to injury woes. Even the supporting cast, including Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, and Olivier-Maxence Prosper missed crucial regular season games due to health issues. It seemed like the Mavs were destined to fail. But can their injury woes also be traced back to Harrison’s questionable decision making?
After tonight’s embarrassing blowout loss against the Grizzlies, ESPN’s Tim McMahon asked the GM, “Why did you make the decision to fire Casey Smith in the summer of 2023? Why did you make the decision to fire Jeremy Holsopple last year? And how do you evaluate the job of your new hires for those roles during the season, which obviously, injuries have completely wreaked havoc on this roster?” Two years ago, Nico abruptly fired Casey, Mavs’ director of player health and performance. A year later, he let go of Holsopple, who was the team’s strength coach and manual therapist Casey Spangler. Notably, all three worked closely with Luka and he even commented on their firing to an ESPN source, “They get rid of everybody I like.”
Speculations were that Harrison made the move to get a better medical team to improve Luka’s conditioning. However, the GM seemed a bit appalled by McMahon bringing up his past decisions now. He replied, “Yeah, you know, bringing up Casey is like almost, it’s kind of a joke. Like last year, Casey wasn’t around, and we made it through to the Finals. No one brought up Casey last year. So, to bring him up this year doesn’t really make sense. He’s been away for two years. So, I’m not even going to comment on that.”
When @espn_macmahon asked about Smith’s departure, Harrison branded the topic “kind of a joke” and insisted the medical team he has put in place is “better.”
The Knicks hired Smith this season as a new vice president of sports medicine and reuniting him with Jalen Brunson. https://t.co/ouepPDvpPP pic.twitter.com/eMskNrRtec
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) April 19, 2025
Meanwhile, he made no mention of Holsopple or Spangler’s firing. However, his defensive response does raise questions about the team’s concerning medical practices, especially after witnessing AD’s struggles against the Grizzlies.
(Developing Story)
The post National Reporter Confirms Nico Harrison And Mavs’ Concerning Medical Practices As Sad Details Of Anthony Davis’ Battles Emerge appeared first on EssentiallySports.
