The Dallas Mavericks had a solid season this year, making the playoffs as the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference. Despite their regular-season exploits, their season ended in heartbreak when they couldn’t make it out of the first round, painfully losing to the Los Angeles Clippers in 7 games.
Luka Doncic played out of his mind during the series, putting up video game averages of 35.7 PPG, 10.3 APG, and 7.9 RPG. A lot of the blame for the series loss was placed on Kristaps Porzingis, and due to their loss rumors swirled around the Dallas Mavericks all summer. Stephen A. Smith claimed that Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic were “not seen as having the greatest relationship”, also stating that some have accused Porzingis of being “jealous” of Doncic. That report and other rumors of a bad relationship between the two Mavericks’ stars led to a lot of Porzingis trade speculation.
The reports of a rift between Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis were denied by other reporters, with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson stating that “they actually like each other”. The two stars do have a lot in common: they were both highly touted international prospects, and both played in Spain prior to going to the NBA. In fact, Kristaps Porzingis has recently revealed that the two stars “speak mostly in Spanish” when playing, in order to confuse the opposition. This definitely shows a level of understanding between the two.
Kristaps Porzingis on @dfwticket said he and Luka speak mostly in Spanish on the court: "That's for everybody else on the court to not understand what we're saying."
The more ya know … or don't.
— Callie Caplan (@CallieCaplan) October 1, 2021
Both stars being able to speak a foreign language on the court is certainly an advantage, and the amount of fluent Spanish speakers among NBA players is certainly small. Perhaps this strategy from the Mavericks’ star duo keeps paying dividends on the court.
The Dallas Mavericks will hope to get further in the playoffs next season, and with a healthy Kristaps Porzingis, they’ll certainly have a chance to do so. They were within one game of making it out of the first round, and hopefully, they’ll be able to have a deep playoff run in 2022.
