Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta did not hold back on his feelings about the Luka Dončić trade in a meeting with President Donald Trump.
“I was in the White House in the Oval Office with the Prime Minister of Italy and the [U.S.] President last Thursday, and we talked about the Houston Cougars,” Fertitta said while addressing the Cougars men’s basketball team. “I can promise you at least a minute and a half. And then we talked about that dumba** Luka Dončić trade that Dallas did.”
Fertitta is the latest personality, but the first NBA owner, to roast the Dallas Mavericks for trading away their franchise superstar to the Los Angeles Lakers for a meager return.
The Mavericks are still reeling from the fallout of the trade with their angry fans.
Embattled Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison made a damning admission during his end-of-the-season press conference about his lapse of judgment on the value of Dončić.
“I did know that Luka was important to the fan base,” Harrison told reporters. “I didn’t quite know to what level.”
Despite the vitriol and backlash toward him, Harrison continued to stand his ground on the decision he made.
“The way we look at it was if you’re putting a team on the floor that’s Kyrie (Irving), Klay (Thompson), P.J. (Washington), Anthony Davis and (Dereck) Lively (II), we feel that’s a championship-caliber team and would have been winning at a high level, and that would have quieted some of the outrage,” Harrison explained.
ESPN Analyst Unloads on ‘Tone-Deaf’ Mavericks GM Statement
Stephen A. Smith, the outspoken host and analyst of the “First Take” on ESPN, criticized Harrison for being tone-deaf in trying to defend the Dončić trade.
“[Harrison] looked bad saying what he said yesterday,” Smith began. “You underestimated, you didn’t know how much, to what degree fans loved Luka Doncic? You underestimated that? Where the hell do you live? Are you in Waco, Texas, or someplace instead of Dallas? What are you talking about? How could you utter those words out of your mouth?
“That means that you are in some cocoon somewhere, you don’t go outside, you don’t go to the games, which clearly is not true because he’s always there. I’m saying, how in God’s name could you possibly say that?… You can’t say what he said, talk about being tone-deaf. Talk about being clueless and completely removed from reality to say you didn’t know how much the fans loved Luka Dončić.”
Charles Barkley to Nico Harrison: ‘You Takin’ The L’
Even Harrison’s friend, TNT analyst and NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley told him to just shut up as every time the Mavericks general manager opens his mouth, it’s only adding more fuel to the fan base’s rage.
“Listen man, I consider you a friend of mine — Nico Harrison, I consider you a friend of mine,” Barkley said on “Inside the NBA” on TNT. “I wish you nothing but the best. I thought you did a good job last year with the Mavs, and obviously whatever happened this year didn’t work out.
“Man, don’t do no more press conferences. I don’t even know what you’re doing, I really don’t. I got sympathy and love for you, but I have zero idea what you’re trying to do. This war is over, brother. You takin’ the L (loss).
Rockets Owner Roasts Mavericks in Meeting With President Trump