Nico Harrison's disastrous lie exposed after Mavericks' sudden firings

Ever since the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers on February 1 for Anthony Davis, Mavs GM Nico Harrison has been under heavy scrutiny for this decision. This move was Harrison's deal, even though Patrick Dumont ultimately approved of the trade and seemed to have similar concerns about Doncic that Harrison had.

Fans have been furious that Harrison decided to move on from Doncic less than a year after he led Dallas to the NBA Finals, and seemingly everything about the organization seems to be heading in the wrong direction.

From an assistant coach getting arrested in the middle of last season to firing key beloved figures within the organization, such as Casey Smith, Harrison's Mavericks have not been the same for years now, and some more big changes occurred on Monday.

Nico Harrison just fired the same guy he was wrongfully defending

According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, the Mavericks fired athletic performance director Keith Belton along with head athletic trainer Dionne Calhoun, and the Belton firing in particular exposed a major contradiction from Harrison less than a month ago.

During Harrison's closed-door roundtable discussion with select media members right before the postseason began, he said that his medical team was "elite" despite everything they had gone through last season, including the brutal handling of Dereck Lively II's ankle injury (which included a return-to-play workout) that ultimately ended up being a stress fracture.

Lively II's ankle injury was originally ruled a sprain, and after being cleared to play, he went through a tough workout to return to playing a few days later. The Mavericks then sent him back to get another scan after this workout, and it revealed a stress fracture in his ankle.

The consequences of this misdiagnosis of Lively II's injury could have been catastrophic, and it even led to an intense altercation between two members of the staff that ultimately had to be investigated by the HR department.

When asked specifically about the handling of Lively II's ankle injury, Harrison's answer was puzzling to say the least. Rather than talking about considering everything, he doubled down on the medical staff he built.

"It actually goes to show the strength of our medical team, because he was cleared to play, but his signs and symptoms were—our medical team knew it was something more, and so that's why they went and tested him again and saw the CT scan, which—they actually avoided a potential catastrophic injury," Harrison said. "So you know, you will take the angle of being negative, but it's actually a positive thing, because they saw with the symptoms, even though he was cleared to play, they didn't feel right putting him on the floor. And so they went back. They stopped him from playing. They went back. They re-tested, and thank God we saw that he had a stress fracture."

Harrison defending his medical team for the Lively II dilemma and then firing Belton less than a month later (the one who was responsible for putting Lively II through an intense workout while he unknowingly had a stress fracture in his ankle) is a direct discrepancy. The continuous changes within the medical department show that Dallas has a problem on their hands, and Harrison has to get this department ironed out to avoid another disastrous season.

Belton didn't even have the right certifications to be employed as an NBA strength coach, and rather than running smoothly (as many medical and training staff do in the NBA), Dallas had a mess on their hands as they were battling injuries all season long. Many of these injuries were directly correlated to players returning too soon, and Mavericks fans are wishing that Smith were still on staff.

The Calhoun firing is also a move that has some people scratching their heads, as most people who got the chance to work with him or know him speak glowingly about him. Calhoun had been working for the Mavs for the last 21 years, and he was one of the final members of the medical and training staff who worked under Smith while he was in Dallas. He also served as an athletic trainer for USA Basketball in the past, and was well respected.

"Great trainer, better man," a Mavericks source said. "Enjoyed working with him. A real pro."

Big change seems to be on the way in Dallas, and in particular, the Belton firing shows that Harrison's plan of bringing in his own guys isn't always the best one. Harrison said that his guys that he brought in were "better" than the team's former members of the medical and training staff that he let go, and that couldn't be more false from everything that has transpired over the last few years.