The Dallas Mavericks shot themselves in the foot. They needed to add depth and defense, and they gave away that to trade for Kyrie Irving on a rental. Unsurprisingly, the early returns with him and Luka Doncic on the court have been far from encouraging.
Of course, the prospect of having two elite scorers playing together is always exciting. But the team cannot get a stop, and maybe, taking the ball from your best player's hands isn't the best way to get better.
Doncic has a bit of a history of throwing temper tantrums, and he doesn't look like a happy camper right now, especially with Jason Kidd putting the ball on Kyrie's hands when the game is on the line.
Jason Kidd Seemingly Takes A Shot At Luka Doncic
Moreover, it seems like Doncic's attitude has rubbed his coach the wrong way, as ESPN's Brian Windhorst claims Kidd took a shot at Luka when he said his team needed to grow up and be more mature:
“I’m not the savior here. I’m not playing. I’m watching, just like you guys. As a team, we’ve got to mature," Kidd said after the loss. "We’ve got to grow up.”
"He's calling out Luka Doncic," said Windhorst on ESPN's Get Up. "When he says they're immature and have to grow up, Luka is the only one of five starters in his 20s. He was talking about Luka. Specifically, I think he was talking about how Luka got distracted in this game, complaining to the officials as the Lakers were making this big comeback. In the second and third quarters combined, Jason Kidd called one timeout. I think because he kind of wanted the Mavericks to try and figure it out on their own."
Things Might End Badly In Dallas, Claims Insider
Notably, NBA insider Sam Hollinger also addressed this issue. He pointed out Jason Kidd's history of things going down abruptly and badly and stated that the Mavs should be worried about Doncic's frustration:
"Keep an eye on this situation," Hollinger reported. "Between Irving’s wandering eye for L.A. this summer, the potential of Luka Doncic’s frustration boiling over, and [Jason] Kidd’s history of things ending badly when they end, this could get a lot worse before it gets better."
At this point, it's crazy to think that anybody would think that trading for Kyrie Irving was a good idea, especially with another controversial guy like Jason Kidd also on board. Mark Cuban really dropped the ball here.
