Cooper Flagg's Mom Clarifies Retweet Calling Nico Harrison 'Huge Distraction'

Kelly Flagg, the mother of No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, appeared to endorse the idea that Nico Harrison was a "huge distraction" for the organization due to the fanbase's animosity toward him before he was fired on Tuesday:

In a post following Harrison's ouster, Kelly clarified her retweet "wasn't about firing Nico."

Cooper had by far his best game as a rookie in Monday's 116-114 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. He finished with 26 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block in 35 minutes.

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Still, ESPN's Tim MacMahon described a "surreal" atmosphere where the "Fire Nico!" chants were impossible to ignore in a close game the Mavericks could've won.

Star guard Klay Thompson tried to downplay any effect on the team from the audible dissent.

"You got to focus. You got to give the fans something to be proud of," he said, per MacMahon. "I think our effort was incredible tonight, the last couple games. So, fans will be fans. Can only control what you can control, so they're going to do what they do, but it's important for us to just stay the course."

According to SNY's Ian Begley, this actually was a growing problem, though:

Mavs fans will stop calling for Harrison's ouster now that he's gone. The trouble for Dallas is that they might now direct their ire toward team governor Patrick Dumont.

Dumont is just as culpable for the ill-fated Luka Dončić because a deal of that magnitude doesn't happen without his approval.

As much as the reactions toward Harrison were an issue, it's going to be worse if fans openly oppose a key member of the organization who can't be fired.