Getty Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks.
The Dallas Mavericks could be playing their final three games of the season this week, if they fail to qualify for the postseason. Dallas has done just about all it can to ensure that they’ll be watching the playoffs from the couch this year.
They’ve lost 10 of their last 13 games, causing them to fall out of the final spot for the Western Conference Play-In Tournament.
Ahead of his team’s last few opportunities to salvage the season, star guard Luka Doncic got real about what’s led to the Mavericks’ collapse.
“I don’t think the offense is a problem, and I always said this,” Doncic told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “It’s our defensive end. I think anybody can score on us. Whoever it is, anybody can score on us. But that’s not an excuse, I’m still young, age-wise, but it’s a lot of basketball. But I gotta be way better.”
Doncic then doubled down on taking the blame, claiming that he’s Dallas’ leader, therefore it’s on him.
“I’m the leader of this team. The one to blame is me.”
Tim Hardaway Sr. Rips Mavs’ Kyrie Irving & Luka Doncic
While Doncic may feel that he’s a leader, not everyone would agree with him. Tim Hardaway Sr., whose son, Tim Hardaway Jr., plays alongside the 24-year-old star, went on national television Wednesday and claimed that neither Doncic nor Kyrie Irving are great leaders.
“That trade wasn’t for them, what isn’t broken doesn’t need to be fixed,” Hardaway said via FS1’s “The Carton Show,” speaking of the Mavs’ trade to land Irving ahead of this season’s deadline. “They’re missing a leader out there. Luka is not a leader, Kyrie is not a leader. Jalen Brunson was a leader.”
Brunson’s time with the Mavs came to an end last summer, when he elected to sign with the New York Knicks.
Hardaway Sr. went on to rip Dallas’ backcourt’s effort on the defensive end, citing the lack thereof as another sign of poor leadership.
“A leader shows by example too, by playing defense,” He continued. “When he says something, he does it also, and that’s what a leader is. And like I said, those two guys are not leaders, they’re complimentary, dominant great basketball players. Great scorers.”
“That trade wasn’t for them, what isn’t broken doesn’t need to be fixed. They’re missing a leader out there. Luka is not a leader, Kyrie is not a leader.”
— @HardawaySr on the Mavs:
Kyrie Irving is “At Peace” With Mavericks’ Future Plans
Irving’s free agency is looming as the Mavericks continue to struggle. Despite things going pretty poorly since he joined the team in mid-February.
He recently told reporters that he’s “at peace” with the organization’s process.
“I think the realistic view is that when I came here, this was going to be a growing process,” Irving said via Sports Illustrated’s Grant Afseth, after the March 28 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. “This was for the long term, and this was for something that’s bigger than ourselves, and we can’t just be a championship team overnight, especially me coming here. So I think I’ve wrapped my head around that aspect of it. I’m at peace with it. It doesn’t mean that I’m giving up on this season or any of my teammates are, but we know where we realistically are, and our destiny is in some other team’s hands losing games. So we just got to control what we can control and focus on the next few possessions that we have in these next games against some really good teams that want to position themselves for the playoffs. We’re fighting for a spot, so I look forward to the challenge. But again, in the last six minutes of the game, I felt like we could have been better clear, including myself.”
Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving was asked if there’s enough time to build the necessary chemistry in the final few games, given the scramble the standings has caused.
“It’s been a scramble since I’ve been here. So, trying to fill in roles that kind of fill in from other people. And I…