Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison made an interesting admission Monday when talking to reporters about his decision to trade fan favorite Luka Doncic to the Lakers in February.

No, Harrison did not admit that the move was a mistake. On the contrary, he clung tightly to his "defense wins championships" explanation for making the deal that sent Doncic to Los Angeles and brought elite defender Anthony Davis to Dallas.

But after more than two months of Mavericks fans calling for his firing — in a very loud and visible fashion — Harrison did admit that he had underestimated the level of outrage the surprise trade would cause.

“I did know that Luka was important to the fan base," said Harrison, a former longtime Nike executive whose fourth season with the Mavericks ended Friday with a play-in loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. "I didn't quite know it to what level."

Read more:Lakers star Luka Doncic scores 45 in emotional, winning return to Dallas

Doncic, 26, endeared himself to the Dallas fan base during his six-plus seasons with the organization, making the All-Star Game five times and leading the Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals. If Harrison didn't realize the level of fans' adoration for the Slovenian superstar before the trade, he certainly does now.

“When you have 20,000 people in the stadium chanting 'Fire Nico,' you really feel it," Harrison said. "I mean it's — I use the word 'awesome,' but not in a positive way. Like, you can really feel how they feel.

"But my job is to make decisions I feel are in the best interest of this organization, and I gotta stand by the decisions, and some of them are going to be unpopular. This was clearly one that's unpopular."

Harrison said he thought — and still thinks — fans would have taken more kindly to trading away such a beloved player if they had been able to see his and the organization's "vision" of a starting five of Davis, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington and Dereck Lively II.

Instead, an onslaught of injuries prevented those five from taking the floor together at all.

"Really the way we looked at it was, if you’re putting a team on the floor that’s Kyrie, Klay, P.J., Anthony Davis and Lively, we feel that’s a championship-caliber team and we would’ve been winning at a high level and that would have quieted some of the outrage. And so unfortunately we weren’t able to do that, so [the outrage] just continued to go on and on.”

Read more:L.A. native upset Luka Doncic is a Laker. He's raising money to protest trade with billboards in Dallas

Harrison added that he expects the core team to be back next season and will "be competing for a championship."

“I believe winning will help repair the relationship with the fans and that’s what we plan to do,” he said.

Harrison was speaking at a news conference that took place six days after he and team CEO Rick Welts held a closed-door roundtable discussion with a small, select group of media members. Those reporters were not allowed to bring cameras and initially were told they could not bring audio recording devices either, although they ended up being allowed to record the meeting for transcription purposes only.

The purpose of the roundtable was to provide closure to the Doncic situation, but Harrison acknowledged Monday that didn't happen.

“The goal was that I answered all the [Doncic] questions, [so] today I could talk about the team as it currently is and then what we do going forward," Harrison said. "But because it fell flat, today I’m basically answering the same questions I answered last week because we didn’t do a good enough job."

Read more:Mavs fans protesting Luka Doncic trade ejected for mouthing off, holding signs and wearing shirts with 'Fire Nico'

During the roundtable event, Harrison repeatedly fell back on the "defense wins championships" mantra as an explanation for trading Doncic. During an interview with ESPN's Malika Andrews that aired Friday, Doncic was asked about Harrison's comments.

"It's just sad the way he's talking right now," Doncic said. "I never say anything bad about him, and I just want to move on. The fans, my ex-teammates, I'll always keep at heart. It's time for me to move on from there."

Told of Doncic's comment, Harrison said: “I feel the same way he does. I've actually never spoken ill of Luka at all, and I'm just ready to move on with this team that we have.”

For Harrison and the Mavericks, the opportunity to move on won't come until next season. Doncic, on the other hand, has the chance to take another step in the process as the Lakers host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night with the chance to tie their first-round playoff series at one win apiece.

L.A. fans seem to know how important Doncic is to possibly making that happen.

Read more:Luka Doncic had an epic playoff moment last year. Here's why it could happen again

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Celtics' Payton Pritchard named 2025 NBA Sixth Man of the Year originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Payton Pritchard took his game to another level during the 2024-25 NBA season. On Tuesday, the Boston Celtics guard was recognized for his efforts.

Pritchard beat out Detroit Pistons sharpshooter Malik Beasley and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award.

Based on the voting results, Pritchard won the award rather easily.

It was a historic campaign for Pritchard, who surpassed Wayne Ellington for the most 3-pointers off the bench in a single NBA season. He made at least five 3-pointers in 22 games, setting a Celtics record previously held by Jayson Tatum (18).

Pritchard is the fourth player in Celtics franchise history to win the Sixth Man of the Year trophy — which is named after C’s legend John Havlicek — joining Kevin McHale (1984-85), Bill Walton (1985-86) and Malcolm Brogdon (2022-23).

Pritchard notched career-bests in every major category with 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the floor (40.7 percent from 3). The 27-year-old averaged a career-high 28.2 minutes per game.

The Celtics held on to Pritchard despite his asking for a trade during the 2022-23 season due to a lack of playing time. They committed to him with a four-year, $30 million contract extension before the 2023-24 campaign, and he has since proven to be worth every penny.

Pritchard had multiple big moments during the C’s 2024 championship run, including a wild buzzer-beater from beyond halfcourt in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. He picked up where he left off with a 19-point performance in Boston’s Game 1 win Sunday against the Orlando Magic.

Pritchard will look to carry that momentum into Wednesday’s Game 2 at TD Garden, which tips off at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston.

Payton Pritchard named 2025 NBA Sixth Man of the Year originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Payton Pritchard took his game to another level during the 2024-25 NBA season. On Tuesday, the Boston Celtics guard was recognized for his efforts.

Pritchard beat out Detroit Pistons sharpshooter Malik Beasley and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award.

Based on the voting results, Pritchard won the award rather easily.

It was a historic campaign for Pritchard, who surpassed Wayne Ellington for the most 3-pointers off the bench in a single NBA season. He made at least five 3-pointers in 22 games, setting a Celtics record previously held by Jayson Tatum (18).

Pritchard is the fourth player in Celtics franchise history to win the Sixth Man of the Year trophy — which is named after C’s legend John Havlicek — joining Kevin McHale (1984-85), Bill Walton (1985-86) and Malcolm Brogdon (2022-23).

Pritchard notched career-bests in every major category with 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the floor (40.7 percent from 3). The 27-year-old averaged a career-high 28.2 minutes per game.

The Celtics held on to Pritchard despite his asking for a trade during the 2022-23 season due to a lack of playing time. They committed to him with a four-year, $30 million contract extension before the 2023-24 campaign, and he has since proven to be worth every penny.

Pritchard had multiple big moments during the C’s 2024 championship run, including a wild buzzer-beater from beyond halfcourt in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. He picked up where he left off with a 19-point performance in Boston’s Game 1 win Sunday against the Orlando Magic.

Pritchard will look to carry that momentum into Wednesday’s Game 2 at TD Garden, which tips off at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston.

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Myers states Butler-to-Warriors one of NBA's ‘best in-season trades' originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

In just his second season as Warriors general manager, Mike Dunleavy took a massive gamble at the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline by acquiring six-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler.

The early return has been positive, to say the least, as Butler single-handedly saved Golden State’s season as the team resurrected and rose to the playoffs. It was a move that will go down in the history books, at least according to Bob Myers, a man who knows a thing or two about championship basketball.

“I think it’s one of the best in-season trades in the history of the league,” Myers told The San Francisco Chronicle’s Ann Killion. “Credit Mike for seeing that because it’s his risk that he takes. Not just his, but when you make these decisions, it’s your name — your reputation — on the line.”

Myers was the general manager of Golden State for more than a decade and the orchestrator of the Warriors’ dynasty that brought four NBA championships to the Bay.

After he stepped down from his duties, Dunleavy took over, and the Warriors missed the playoffs in the first season of his tenure. Things weren’t looking good for the Warriors to start the 2024-25 season, either — until Butler arrived.

The Warriors skyrocketed the standings in a loaded Western Conference, finishing as the No. 7 playoff seed and currently in a first-round playoff series with the No. 3-seeded Houston Rockets.

“The Jimmy thing is a pivot point,” Myers told Killion. “That’s a signature deal that will go on Mike’s resume.”

Finding Steph Curry a reliable second option has been the main priority since Klay Thompson’s departure. Andrew Wiggins was a two-way beast in spurts, but his availability began to teeter for a team working on a win-now timeline.

In 30 regular-season games with Golden State, Butler averaged 17.9 points on 47.6 percent shooting, with 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.7 steals in 32.7 minutes. More than anything, though, his presence helped relieve Curry while also making everyone around him better.

“With Jimmy, just — bam, right away it happened,” Myers told Killion. “If you hook up the people who made the decision to a lie detector. I think everybody would feel surprised at how well it’s worked.

“When you do these moves, you always think: What’s the best case? What’s the worst case? It’s usually somewhere in between. But this is the best-case scenario.”

Myers joked with Killion that Dunleavy likely will last longer as general manager than he did, attributing his early success to not only being a former player but also the son of an NBA coach.

“I think there’s a healthy disconnect you need to have, while balancing that with passion and intention,” Myers said. “He was reared in the NBA. He’s seen the highs and the lows, so he’s not going to get overly emotional. He knows too much.

“He puts the NBA in its proper place, and it makes him effective at what he does.”

No matter how this season ends, whenever that might be, it’s safe to say the Warriors’ trade for Butler will go down in the record books.

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White voted second-most underrated NBA player in poll of his peers originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Derrick White doesn’t get the credit he deserves from the national media and NBA fans outside of Boston for how important he is to the Celtics’ success.

But his peers definitely recognize his value.

The Athletic on Tuesday released the results of its annual player poll. A total of 158 players (at least one from every team) were polled on a bunch of questions, including which team will win the 2025 NBA Finals, the most deserving MVP candidate, most overrated player, most underrated player, and several others.

White was tied with Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams for the most underrated player in the league in last year’s poll. In 2025, he came in second place behind Detroit Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham. White received 7.4 percent of the vote, while Cunningham got 8.8 percent.

White averaged a career-high 16.4 points, along with 4.8 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game this season. He scored a team-leading 30 points on 10-for-18 shooting (7-for-12 from 3-point range) in Game 1 of the Celtics’ first-round playoff series versus the Orlando Magic on Sunday.

The veteran point guard wasn’t the only Celtics player who received votes in The Athletic’s poll for most underrated.

Celtics guard Jrue Holiday was tied for fifth place with 2.9 percent of the vote. C’s guard Payton Pritchard was one of six players in the next tier at 2.2 percent of the vote. Superstar forwards Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum received 1.5 percent each.

The Celtics were well-represented in other areas of the poll, too.

When asked which team will win the title this season, 57.7 percent of players voted for the Celtics. The Oklahoma City Thunder were second at 17.5 percent. Players weren’t allowed to vote for their own team.

Boston also came in third place (15.3 percent) for “best organization” behind the Thunder (17.5 percent) and Golden State Warriors (21.9 percent).

Joe Mazzulla received the fourth-most votes for best coach in the league.

“There are little things he takes advantage of,” one player said of Mazzulla, per The Athletic. “It seems like he thinks about the game very strategically. He takes advantage of every single, tiny, little thing that he can.”

Game 2 of Celtics-Magic is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Full coverage on NBC Sports Boston starts at 6 p.m. with Celtics Pregame Live.

Celtics' Payton Pritchard named 2025 NBA Sixth Man of the Year originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Payton Pritchard took his game to another level during the 2024-25 NBA season. On Tuesday, the Boston Celtics guard was recognized for his efforts.

Pritchard beat out Detroit Pistons sharpshooter Malik Beasley and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award.

Based on the voting results, Pritchard won the award rather easily.

It was a historic campaign for Pritchard, who surpassed Wayne Ellington for the most 3-pointers off the bench in a single NBA season. He made at least five 3-pointers in 22 games, setting a Celtics record previously held by Jayson Tatum (18).

Pritchard is the fourth player in Celtics franchise history to win the Sixth Man of the Year trophy — which is named after C’s legend John Havlicek — joining Kevin McHale (1984-85), Bill Walton (1985-86) and Malcolm Brogdon (2022-23).

Pritchard notched career-bests in every major category with 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the floor (40.7 percent from 3). The 27-year-old averaged a career-high 28.2 minutes per game.

The Celtics held on to Pritchard despite his asking for a trade during the 2022-23 season due to a lack of playing time. They committed to him with a four-year, $30 million contract extension before the 2023-24 campaign, and he has since proven to be worth every penny.

Pritchard had multiple big moments during the C’s 2024 championship run, including a wild buzzer-beater from beyond halfcourt in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. He picked up where he left off with a 19-point performance in Boston’s Game 1 win Sunday against the Orlando Magic.

Pritchard will look to carry that momentum into Wednesday’s Game 2 at TD Garden, which tips off at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston.

Warriors confident in new two-big lineup for short stints vs. Rockets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

HOUSTON – Warriors rookie center Quinten Post never made it to March Madness in his five-year college career. The furthest he went was the NIT where he scored 22 points with nine rebounds and three blocked shots in his final game for Boston College, losing 79-70 to UNLV. 

Post, the Warriors’ second-round draft pick at No. 52 overall, didn’t even make his NBA debut until mid-January but soon after found himself in the rotation and has showcased his lack of fear is one of his best traits. He was a game-high plus-12 in the Warriors’ play-in tournament win against the Memphis Grizzlies to secure the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, when he scored 11 points with three 3-pointers and hauled in five rebounds. Still, the NBA playoffs are a different animal. 

The lights are brighter. The crowd is more intense. The games are more physical. 

He felt it, too.

“I was amped up,” Post told NBC Sports Bay Area on Tuesday after Warriors practice at the Toyota Center in preparation for Game 2 against the Houston Rockets. “I was ready to go. Throw my weight around. It was just cool.” 

In the Warriors’ 95-85 rock fight of a Game 1 win Sunday over the Rockets, Post didn’t just make his playoff debut, but was in more unknown territory. The 7-footer shared the floor alongside fellow center Kevon Looney for the first time. Post admitted he didn’t know coach Steve Kerr would use both players together, though he was comfortable with the combination. 

From their four regular-season games against each other, plus one in the NBA Cup, the difference in size between the two teams was obvious. The Warriors start 6-foot-6 Draymond Green at center and always are smaller than their opponent. The Rockets’ starting center is Alperen Şengün at 6-11, and they found a lot of success using a two-big lineup with him and Steven Adams together, who also is 6-11. 

They even put 6-10 Jabari Smith Jr. on the floor next to their two centers, and had a lineup at one point that featured Şengün, Adams, Smith, Tari Eason (6-8) and Amen Thompson (6-7). All are taller than Green, and the Warriors only have three players taller than those five Rockets – Post, Looney (6-9) and Trayce Jackson-Davis (6-9). 

Post and Looney’s few minutes together weren’t great overall. The first sample also didn’t cause Kerr any concerns. 

“They’ve never played together, but the playoffs sometimes dictate maybe a minute or two here and there,” Kerr said. “We obviously did it to combat their two bigs. We like it because Loon’s our best rebounder and Quinten’s one of our best shooters. We’re able to space the floor against them with those two big guys and present a little more size. 

“Actually, the most size we can.” 

Kerr isn’t going to play them next to each other for long stretches. If they are on the court together, it will be for short stints and based on the Rockets’ personnel. 

Post and Looney each were a plus-4 off the bench, and both had one rebound. Neither made a shot. Looney’s one shot was an airball as the shot clock expired and Adams was right on him. Post came up empty trying to dunk on Şengün and Eason, hit the back of the rim on his first 3-point attempt from the right wing and airballed his second three, with that one coming from the right corner. 

The duo spent two minutes and 15 seconds together in a lineup that also featured Brandin Podziemski, Buddy Hield and Jimmy Butler, and were outscored 3-0. Those numbers after one game haven’t changed any confidence Post and Looney have in forming their own two-big lineup. 

“I felt great with Loon on the floor,” Post said. “Loon does a lot of things that Draymond does. Obviously it was matchup dependent. They play very big. I didn’t expect it before the game, but I mean, at this point, you just do whatever to win and you try out some things to counter their size. I think we felt good out there, and we’ll see how it goes the next few games.” 

“My job doesn’t change when he’s out there,” Looney added. “He spaces the floor, he draws attention because he’s a great shooter. I don’t know if we’ll go back to it, but it was fun to be out there with him in a real game.” 

Looney early in his career played power forward next to big men like JaVale McGee and DeMarcus Cousins, who are both taller than him, like Post. But in this case, Post, who stands three inches taller than Looney, takes on more of a power forward role with Looney still having center duties. 

With his experience next to Green, sliding down from the five to four isn’t a major change for Post. 

“I’m more like the four,” Post explained about playing with Looney. “Even with Draymond I play almost like a four offensively. He’s in most of the actions. Right now, that’s just what has worked in those lineups with my ability to space the floor, so that’s just kind of how we do it.” 

The playoffs are all about tweaks and adjustments. Rockets coach Ime Udoka is sure to throw something different at the Warriors after having 22 offensive rebounds, 16 more than Golden State, but finding little to no halfcourt offense and outside shooting. If he continues to throw towering lineups out there, Kerr is fine giving them more Post and Looney. 

Good butterflies are sure to flutter again before Game 2 for Post. His heart will race, as it should, but he knows getting that first game done already has him feeling a new sense of calmness and composure. 

“One hundred percent,” Post says. “Now it’ll definitely become a little easier. I did definitely have some nerves going into the game. I could have been sharper in some of the decisions I made on the court, and I think getting that Game 1 out of the way, it’ll become easier.”

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Horford has strong reaction to KCP's flagrant foul on Tatum originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum suffered a wrist injury after a hard foul by Orlando Magic guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Sunday afternoon.

Caldwell-Pope was called for a flagrant foul after an official’s review of the play in the fourth quarter. Tatum landed hard on his right wrist as a result of the play. He remained in the game despite lying on the floor flexing his wrist for a little bit after the contact from KCP.

The C’s ended up winning 103-86.

Celtics big man Al Horford was not a fan of the play. He immediately defended Tatum in the moment, and had more comments about the play when asked by reporters Tuesday.

“There was something extra,” Horford said. “It was about the second or third time they, especially KCP, went at him in that way.”

Horford didn’t specify the other one or two instances that Caldwell-Pope went at Tatum. Caldwell-Pope did foul Tatum hard with 8:58 left in the first quarter as the Celtics forward drove to the basket. KCP hacked Tatum’s arm (watch a replay here).

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said after Tuesday’s practice that Tatum is “day to day” ahead of Wednesday night’s Game 2 in Boston.

It was obvious that the Magic tried to establish a physical tone early in Game 1, and that includes whoever is guarding Tatum. The Magic were the more physical team in the first half, but the Celtics did a good job ramping up their own intensity in the second half en route to a comfortable win.

This strategy by the Magic isn’t likely to change. They have a lot less talent and depth than the Celtics. Mucking up the game and slowing it down is one of the few ways for Orlando to potentially keep the score close in the fourth quarter.