They say there are certain stories journalists work their whole careers to cover, and that certainly can be said for ESPN’s Tim McMahon covering the bombshell Dallas Mavericks trade this month sending Luka Dončić to Los Angeles.
McMahon has covered the Mavs for nearly two decades, so it’s understandable that McMahon would be territorial regarding his coverage of the Dončić deal. But he ratcheted that up to a new level on Monday’s edition of The Hoop Collective podcast.
As McMahon discussed the abdominal injury suffered by Anthony Davis (the main return for Dončić) on Saturday in Davis’ Dallas debut, he doubled down on his report that Mavs GM Nico Harrison was the subject of death threats as a result of the trade. McMahon reported on ESPN Friday that the Mavs were increasing security at the arena and around Harrison due to these threats. After the injury to Davis, McMahon added, the divisiveness of the deal is only going to intensify.
But McMahon didn’t stop there. After rebutting the idea that he was working as Harrison’s “mouthpiece” while covering the trade, McMahon took aim at independent Mavs reporter Grant Afseth.
Afseth checked in with Dallas Police and found that the department was not aware of any reported threats to Harrison’s life. And McMahon clearly didn’t take too kindly to being challenged, as he called Afseth a “wannabe journalist” for the conflicting reporting.
“You’re acting like this was any old trade. There was a protest with a thousand some-odd people. Nico Harrison has received death threats,” McMahon told his cohosts.
“And by the way, let me just double down on that reporting. Because I’ve been ripped because Dallas Police Department told some wannabe journalist that ‘There’s no known threats to us.’ Uh, folks, the Mavericks have security that’s literally been at the highest level of American law enforcement. The threats did not raise themselves to the level where they felt like they needed to be reported to police. But I guarantee you and I’ve heard from multiple sources that he’s received death threats.”
Afseth, who covers the Mavs through his personal Substack website, responded later on Monday.
After noting that he and McMahon were effectively reporting the same thing, Afseth wrote on X that, “I don’t think it’s fair to give a fanbase or the city of Dallas an undeserving reputation on global TV.”
By that point, fans online had pounced on McMahon. Many claimed that McMahon was giving the company line in order to drum up sympathy for Harrison — which McMahon refutes.
In fairness to McMahon, he was not the only one to report that the Mavs feared for the safety of players and executives back in Dallas. TNT’s Allie LaForce reported the same during the network’s NBA broadcast the night of the NBA trade deadline.
Awful Announcing reached out to McMahon for comment following the release of the podcast and Afseth’s response.
“I stand by what I said on the pod about my reporting being accurate,” McMahon wrote via direct message on X.