The Dallas Mavericks traded for Kyrie Irving in the hopes that it would give them a better shot at competing for a title and instead, they might just miss out on even the play-in tournament.
There has been a lot of debate on who is to blame for their messy situation and Stephen A. Smith says it is certainly not Irving.
“I don’t have a single negative syllable to utter about Kyrie Irving,” Smith said on First Take. “He is not the problem in Dallas. He is averaging 26 a game, 51% shooting from the field, about 37% shooting from three-point range. He is a reliable offensive weapon in the fourth quarter. He has brought to Dallas what you brought him to Dallas to do. Luka is the one, dare I say, that has a huge question mark hovering over him, and it’s nothing statistical. … Luka gets 41, and they lose the game. Luka’s not only depressed after the game, he looks depressed during the game.
.@stephenasmith talks about what is going on in Dallas:
"I don't have a single negative syllable to utter about Kyrie Irving. He is not the problem in Dallas. … Luka is the one, dare I say, that has a huge question mark hovering over him, and it's nothing statistical." pic.twitter.com/w8XZ91FUtU
— First Take (@FirstTake) April 3, 2023
Smith is pointing the finger at Luka Doncic and his body language on the court really hasn’t been great recently. He is supposed to be the leader of this team and you’d ideally want him out there inspiring his teammates but he seems to be pouting instead. Kyrie hasn’t displayed that bad attitude and is playing well too, averaging 26.7 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 5.9 APG, and 1.2 SPG as a member of the Mavs.
The Mavericks have now dropped to 37-42 and remain the 11th seed in the Western Conference. They need to win at least two of their remaining three games to have any chance at getting to the play-in tournament and that seems quite unlikely, as they have lost seven of their last eight games.
Kendrick Perkins Also Took Shots At Luka Doncic
Doncic has evaded criticism, for the most part, in his career, with a lot of the blame for their failures falling on his teammates and coaches. That isn’t the case in this instance though, as he is being heavily criticized.
Kendrick Perkins also went off at him during this episode of First Take, as he called him out for not taking accountability, for being a sub-par leader, and for not being in shape. All this criticism might just lead to Luka going on a tear in their remaining three games, but the Mavericks don’t control their own destiny. They could miss out on the play-in even if they win all of their games and they only have themselves to blame for being in this situation.
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