Mavericks Palace Fight: The winner of the power game between Cuban and Harrison has been decided

. Harrison also blamed Doncic's defensive struggles for the Mavericks' loss to the Boston Celtics in the Finals. He sold Dumont his vision of building the league's best defense around Davis, with whom Harrison has been close since Davis played in the AAU league as a teenager.

"Defense wins championships, " Harrison said repeatedly in one of his few attempts to publicly explain the logic of the deal.

Harrison also convinced Dumont that trade discussions must be kept confidential to minimize the risk of leaks to the media, which could otherwise lead to Doncic's agent, Duffy, using his influence to kill the deal. Harrison told Dumont that involving Cuban would likely lead to leaks. No one else knows. No one else needs to know either.

During halftime of the Mavericks' game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 10, the night before Harrison was fired, Dumont welcomed an 18-year-old fan wearing a gold Doncic Lakers jersey to sit next to him for a few minutes. Nicholas Dickason told TA that at the instigation of his father, he approached Dumont to apologize for giving him the middle finger during a season-opening loss to the San Antonio Spurs, the only game Dumont had attended before this regular season. Dickason said that during their friendly conversation, Dumont expressed remorse over the Doncic trade.

After the game, Cuban walked straight from his usual seat next to the home bench to meet Dumont at his seat near the center circle on the other side of the American Airlines Center court. Meanwhile, on the other side of the court, Harrison descended the movable stairs next to his seat and entered the tunnel, and the bitter power struggle that had dogged the Mavericks for years was changing in real time.

Harrison, who received death threats after the Doncic trade, never returned to his usual seat. He spent the rest of last season standing in the tunnel, accompanied by security. Before every game this season, he had those stairs rolled over so he could get in and out of his new seats a few rows behind the home broadcast booth without coming into contact with fans.

A few months after the Doncic trade, Harrison was lucky enough to receive the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft. That's when Cuban's push to fire Harrison intensified, multiple team sources said. Then, after the team drafted Flagg with the No. 1 pick in late June, Harrison managed to further anger the fan base.

"Fortune favors the brave, " Harrison said, a cue to a fan base that wasn't ready or willing to accept that statement. Dumont had urged Harrison to get media training weeks ago amid a citywide backlash that threatened the team's future viability, hoping to create a message that would alleviate some of the self-inflicted damage.

These lessons clearly didn't work.

A few days later, during Flagg's introductory press conference, Harrison said he hoped fans "started to see my vision," infuriating fans even more at a time when they should be celebrating their luck in getting Flagg and the excitement of a future with him. Four months later, with the Mavericks' record plummeting and fans angry, Dumont had seen enough.

Sources on both sides said the relationship between Dumont and Cuban never became hostile. They have known each other for many years and the friendship they developed was the basis for negotiations to sell the team. The same sources said Cuban bolstered his credibility with Dumont by criticizing Harrison's roster construction over the summer. Cuban warned Dumont that Dallas' offense would suffer due to a lack of on-ball creators and shooting ability. Harrison downplayed those concerns. The Mavericks' offensive efficiency ranks second to last in the league.

"I understand the profound impact of the difficult past few months," Dumont wrote in a letter to fans released that afternoon, vaguely referencing the Doncic trade in his only public comments this season. "Please know that I am fully committed to the success of the Mavericks. Thank you for your support, thank you for holding us accountable, and thank you for your passion and patience. You deserve transparency and a team that reflects your ethos. "

Sources said Cuban strongly recommended replacing Harrison with Lindsay, now the No. 2 executive on the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons. But for now, Du Meng has chosen the "committee-based general manager" approach. The Mavericks' front office met with Dumont the afternoon of Harrison's firing to discuss potential strategies.

Assistant general managers Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi (recently promoted to interim co-general manager) were in the room. Kidd was there, too, and he has as much influence within the organization as anyone after signing a contract extension during the preseason. Cuban was there, too, suggesting he was back in the team's inner circle.

Cuban is excited to be part of the small group that Dumont relies on to educate him on the business of the NBA and guide him through this tumultuous period. "He's walking in a daze now," a team source said. "Cuban is floating in his Skechers shoes. "

But Cuban has not restored his decision-making status within the Mavericks. And will never recover. As one source said, Cuban sold that rights. "He's an adviser, not a decision-maker," another source said. "But he's on the table now. "

Still, no one knows how long he will stay, or how big his influence will be. According to a source briefed by Dumont, Dumont remains committed to finding a reliable helmsman to help the Mavericks emerge from the darkness.

source:ti so 7m