After the Dallas Mavericks sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February, their fans started practically begging for Nico Harrison, the executive who engineered the trade, to be fired. This past Tuesday, those fans got their wish, as Harrison was axed.
The Mavericks are now looking for a permanent general manager, and they need a good one. Despite possessing quality players such as Anthony Davis, whom they got in return for Doncic, and rookie phenom Cooper Flagg, they have a 4-11 record, and their immediate future looks gloomy.
Former Los Angeles Lakers forward and NBA champion Metta Sandiford-Artest told TMZ Sports that he should be hired to replace Harrison.
“The reason I say that is because I got so much experience,” he said.
“Running a basketball business would be fairly easy; running a sports business is fairly easy at the highest level, whether it’s president or general manager. I’m running all operations.”
After his NBA career ended in 2017, Sandiford-Artest became a player development coach for the Lakers’ G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers. He has also gotten involved in business by starting the Artest Media Group, which manages various music artists, and The Artest Management Group, which, among other things, helps athletes prepare their income tax returns.
However, he has absolutely no experience working in a front office role for any sports team.
Back in June, Sandiford-Artest said on X (formerly Twitter) that he was the “perfect choice” to be the head coach of the New York Knicks, one of the teams he once played for. That job went to Mike Brown, who himself once coached the Lakers and Sandiford-Artest.