Sad News: About a minute ago Luka Dončić die in a Car Cr……
The move itself was so well-guarded that no one — save for select members of the Mavs’ and Los Angeles Lakers’ front offices — knew a trade for the ages was coming. Even the Utah Jazz, pulled into the deal for logistical reasons, was left in the dark about the superstar exchange until just before it was finalized.
Harrison has always been able to keep a secret. Three decades ago, Harrison didn’t even tell his mother something eminently important, all because he had been asked to keep quiet.
In 1992, Harrison was a defensive-minded forward who transferred from West Point to Montana State, a school closer to his home in the Pacific Northwest. Toward the end of a required redshirt year, he approached his coach, Mick Durham, with an uncomfortable question. His family couldn’t afford another year of out-of-state tuition. Could he receive a scholarship moving forward?
Durham told him yes, he could, but because it was too far out from the next semester, the change couldn’t yet become official. He asked Harrison to “keep that to yourself until things sort out,” Durham remembered.
Two weeks later, Harrison’s mother called the coach.
“We have to know if (Nico) is going to get a scholarship or not,” she said, completely unaware of the pact between her son and Durham. “We can’t afford this.”
Those who have observed the rise of the 52-year-old Nike executive-turned-NBA team builder say Harrison is disciplined and fitness-focused; that he is even-keeled and not easily swayed by emotion; and that he is so tight-lipped, only those on a need-to-know basis are kept informed of the facts.
Even as the public has learned some of why the Mavs made this Dončić trade — from Harrison’s frustrations with Dončić’s conditioning and off-court habits, his yearning for a better defender and his tight relationship with incoming star Anthony Davis — the decision remains nonetheless viewed by much of the public as irrational and impulsive.
