Hours before Dallas Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont decided tofire general manager Nico Harrison, a curious photo started circulating on social media. The image featured Dumont in a courtside seat conversing with a young fan wearing a Los Angeles Lakers Luka Dončić jersey.
The pair appeared to engage in a cordial conversation that lasted a few minutes. Given the animosity between Mavericks fans and the team over the Dončić trade, it was a surprising outcome that made for an even more bizarre image.
Mavs governor Patrick Dumont and a fan in a Luka Lakers jerseypic.twitter.com/YzzYJ1Qv6P
— Christian Clark (@christianpclark)November 11, 2025
That fan, 18-year-old Nicholas Dickason, spoke to The Dallas Morning News aboutthat conversation. Dickason said he sought out Dumont to apologize to the owner after Dickason flipped Dumont off at a game earlier this season. Dickason said his dad saw the interaction and told Dickason to apologize to Dumont the next time they were both at a game.
Dickason is a Mavericks fan, and has been since he was 4 or 5 years old, but wore the Dončić jersey as a form of protest. He's far from the only member of the fan base who remains furious over the decision to trade away Dončić in February.
Because of that, Dickason and Dumont also discussed that move, per Dickason.
"[Dumont] said he was trying to do what's best for the organization," Dickason said, "and 'Sometimes you have good intentions and you make mistakes.' We all do it."
That quote is written in a way to suggest Dumont admitted to making a "mistake" by trading away Dončić. It's unclear whether that's exactly what happened, especially considering we don't have Dumont's version of the story.
Given Tuesday's firing of Harrison, the man who made the Dončić trade, Dumont's interaction with Dickason has taken on even more significance. The image alone suggests Dumont was willing to engage with and acknowledge unhappy fans after one of the most shocking and controversial trades in NBA history.
Tuesday's firing was yet another acknowledgement things haven't worked out since that trade. But if Dumont is willing to admit that deal was a mistake, he's not going to do so publicly. In a letter to fans Tuesday, Dumont mentioned the fan base has experienced a "difficult last several months," but did not mention Dončić or the trade in that note.
That's probably a wise move. Harrison may have executed the deal, but he almost certainly needed Dumont's permission to make it a reality.
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