After a disappointing run in the 2022-23 NBA season, the Dallas Mavericks will run it back with the duo of Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic for the 2023-24 NBA season.
Team owner Mark Cuban recently put rumors about chemistry issues between Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic to bed. Cuban credited Irving’s understanding of the Mavericks being Doncic’s team as the primary reason behind his belief.
“I think Kyrie is mature to the point now where he knows it’s Luka’s team,” Cuban said during an interview with SiriusXM NBA Radio. “Luka knows this. He knows, and that’s what’s important, and he’s willing to play more of a shooting guard role. When Luka is out, we have a point guard who can score and create for other guys, they’re both players who make their teammates better, and we didn’t have that before.”
Cuban added: “Once Luka went out we struggled, we struggled mightily, and Luka had to do too much we put a lot of pressure on Luka. We did struggle defensively after the trade, but that was for a lot of reasons, it wasn’t Luka or Kyrie, but offensively you know, we had one of the top lineups, we were the top two or three in the NBA.”
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In the 2022-23 NBA season, the Mavs went 5-11 when both Irving and Doncic played. There’s certainly a lot of room for improvement for the organization. They finished with a 38-44 record and ended up missing the play-in tournament as well.
Despite that, it was reported that Doncic pushed for Irving’s return to the team. Keeping that in mind, it seems obvious that the dynamic between the two superstars is crystal clear.
Mark Cuban Always Wanted Kyrie Irving To Stay Long Term With The Mavericks
Kyrie Irving averaged 27.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 6.0 APG over 20 games last season. These were solid numbers from the 2016 NBA champion and it’s no surprise that the Mavericks re-signed him to a three-year $126 million contract.
But was this a last-minute decision? Well, according to Cuban, the Mavs always intended to bring back Irving.
“Kyrie just loves basketball and loves going to games, so no, I wasn’t concerned about that. But we traded for him because we wanted him to be a long-term piece, you know? And I think Kyrie’s just misunderstood. Everybody sees all the noise and everything around him, but when you actually talk to him, I like him. He’s open, he’s smart, he’s always looking to learn things. He’s an interesting guy.”
The 31-year-old guard’s championship window is closing fast. If he fails to lead the Mavericks to an NBA Championship in the near future, fans may never see Irving lift the glorious Larry O’Brien trophy again.
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