Nico and Humble Leadership
The Mavericks are a joke.
Just yesterday, I shared an ESPN article about climbing in South America, while commenting that their organization occasionally still produces quality long-form material. Today, ESPN has gone two-for-two, with a piece that can only be described as a bombshell.
There has been an incredible amount of bad press surrounding Dallas Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison, the architect of the Luka Doncic trade considered so bad that most Americans who don’t even care about sports were at least vaguely aware of it. In recent days, since the Mavericks’ season ended, the mud-slinging has been ratcheted to 11.
The following is an excerpt from the first section of the article shared above:
[Harrison informed Casey Smith, the director of health and performance], that his services in Dallas were no longer needed, ending a nearly two-decade tenure with the franchise. The reason for the dismissal centered on Smith being "too negative," according to sources briefed on the discussion who interpreted the vague reasoning to mean Smith wasn't enough of a yes-man.
"He was 100 percent threatened by him," a team source told ESPN, referring to Harrison's concern that Smith's voice carried too much weight with the franchise. "He's going to show that I'm in charge and nobody else can question that."
There are only two reasons for someone to make that kind of comment to the press: they either want to see him fired, or they know he’s going to be fired. Brutal.
Astute readers may remember that I wrote about this trade back in February, in Luka and Risk Management. My take at the time was that this deal was an example of poor risk mitigation: by trading a young and oft-injured star for an older, oft-injured star, there was more that could go wrong and less time to change course if the worst did occur.
The worst did occur, about a week later, when the newly acquired Anthony Davis went down with an injury halfway through his first game for the team. What followed was a truly cursed run of injury luck, with literally half of their roster unable to play at one point in March. Now, of course, we’re learning that it might be more than bad luck:
DERECK LIVELY II, a 21-year-old center who projects as a long-term cornerstone, was listed as questionable on Jan. 20 because of a right ankle sprain after sitting out the previous two games. Under [the new trainer’s] supervision, Lively went through an intense return-to-play workout before sitting out again that night.
The plan was for Lively to play at home two nights later against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
But [the new doctor] had concerns, prompting him to send Lively for a CT scan. It revealed a stress fracture in his right ankle that sidelined the center for the next 2½ months.
"Somebody should be fired for that," a team source said then.
What I’m seeing now is that the infamous trade was simply one bad decision of many. The story of Nico Harrison is not that of Icarus flying too close to the Sun, after one risky bet failed to pay off; it is the story of an Adam Neumann,1 an executive who systematically, obliviously burned bridges on the way to a final, critical meltdown. In other words, Nico Harrison is an example of bad leadership - not just in the basketball sense, but in the general sense.
Now, different people prefer different kinds of leaders, but I’ve always been a big fan of the power of humility. Every leader I’ve respected understood that they might be wrong at times, that other people have skills which they do not, and that teamwork makes the dream work.
Humble leaders do things like respecting the institution. When they’re new to their roles, they try to learn from the careerists who’ve been around the block. Instead, as outlined in the excerpt above, Nico fired the team’s most respected medical professional. He sacrificed a resource within the team to make an aggressive, fleeting power play.
Humble leaders also aren’t afraid to deal with nay-sayers, since they understand that they might be wrong. Instead, Nico fired the rest of his medical staff at the end of last year, replacing them with a strength trainer who some inside sources called a “glorified cheerleader”. (To be fair, the article does explain that the strength trained in question had no experience with basketball players and lacked several NBA-mandated certifications.)
Most important, humble leaders are secure in themselves, which Nico most definitely isn’t. This is someone who appears physically unable to acknowledge an error:
Harrison defended the Mavs' health and performance group, pointing out that the vast majority of injuries sustained by Dallas players this season have been "unavoidable" and caused by contact.
But on multiple occasions, Mavs players have aggravated injuries or sustained related injuries immediately upon their returns [from other injuries].
I could link you to dozens of clips where he insists that “defense wins championships” and that he “didn’t predict how much people would care” when discussing the Luka trade. But it’s all the same story.
Whether it’s firing a high-quality medical staff2 or trading his superstar, Nico was making decisions to consolidate control. The most pessimistic observer might have even suggested that he wanted to create a situation where he was sure he would get the credit. Successes built on staff hired and players acquired before his tenure would certainly undermine claims to glory.
If there’s a lesson to be learned here, it’s that we all have a responsibility to listen to consider other opinions when we make big decisions. Choices have ripple effects, and it’s irresponsible for anyone to assume they can see them all on their own.
Also, being an NBA GM is a terrible job where you’re going to be picked apart no matter what you do and absolutely roasted in random Substack posts if you stand out too much.
Founder of WeWork.
Most of whom were immediately hired by the New York Knicks.