“Fire Nico” mural appears in Dallas hours ahead of Luka Doncic’s return
Luka Doncic will make his first trip back to Dallas since the Mavericks shockingly traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers, and fans are clearly still bitter.
The Dallas Mavericks fans won’t be quick to forgive the franchise for allowing their generational talent Luka Doncic to be traded away to the Los Angeles Lakers in a shocking move that felt like a gigantic betrayal - to the fanbase and to Luka himself. And the man responsible for it all is general manager Nico Harrison, to whom the fans have not held back their anger.
In the immediate aftermath, there were protests calling on the franchise to “fire Nico”, and they really haven’t slowed down. Now that Doncic is on his way back to the American Airlines Center for the first time since the trade, the fans are ready to welcome him with open arms, while still shunning Nico.
“Fire Nico” mural appears in Dallas
Just hours before Doncic’s return to face his former team in his former home, a mural popped up on South Harwood Street - a picture of a navy Mavericks cap with the logo covered by duct tape, and on the duct tape is written “Fire Nico”.
The FIRE NICO mural 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/jLyqpQYo6K
— the revolution lives (@MVPLuka77) April 9, 2025
Mavericks fan Chris Taylor was kicked out of a game in February for holding signs calling on the team to fire Nico Harrison, and he was wearing a duct-tape covered hat.
Fort Worth-based muralist Juan Velazquez saw a video of Taylor on social media and was inspired to create this mural to immortalize him. He started working on the mural on Tuesday to have it ready in time for Doncic’s return to Dallas on Wednesday night. He worked on it together with artist Armando Aguirre, who did previous work on a mural which paid homage to Doncic in the Tin District.
The atmosphere in Dallas is ELECTRIC! @luka7doncic returns tonight, and this "Fire Nico" mural at 2635 S. Harwood St. is making waves.
— CBS News Texas (@CBSNewsTexas) April 9, 2025
Do you think the trade was a mistake? Let us know your predictions for tonight's game! #Luka #MavsNation #Mavs pic.twitter.com/YyorDqMbj2
Velazquez shares the sentiment of many Dallas fans, who are still not over the shocking trade. He compared Doncic to former Maverick Dirk Nowitzki, who started and finished his career with Dallas and brought them to their only championship. Doncic was the new Dirk. Or he was supposed to be. He brought them to the finals just last year and planned to finish his career in Dallas.
“We stuck with Dirk through the good years, bad years … It didn’t matter,“ said Velazquez. “We still watched the games, even if he lost, because we loved Dirk.”
Velazquez explained that the lack of loyalty is what has angered fans the most.
“But then they just trade him like he’s nothing,” Velazquez said, who was angry enough to root for Luka and against the Mavericks in tonight’s game.
“I do hope that Luka wins. I hope the Lakers win,” he said. “I hope he dunks on the Mavericks and while he’s dunking, he points at Nico and just stares at him.”
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