The Dallas Mavericks were seen as one of the best teams in the NBA, with their great run to the 2024 finals after a decade of no luck. The team showed their determination with an unselfish style of play and their great leadership with their ex-overseas teammate, Luka Doncic. His play style, even though looking a bit big for an NBA player to move so well, allowed him to make moves to score, and his shooting skills are out of this world. This great team has fallen, and it starts first, at Luka.
Before his professional career, Doncic played overseas ball straight out of high school on teams like Real Madrid in FIBA. He was seen as a very promising prospect, so when the Dallas Mavericks selected Luka as 3rd Pick in the NBA Draft, they saw a light shining through him. He was seen as one of the best of the best the league would see- they called him the next Dirk Nowitzki. He went from averaging close to 30 points per game over the years to scoring 73 points against the Atlanta Hawks in January 2024. He has shown the greatness that he could bring to the table for the Mavs, he loved Dallas, and he considered himself a Texan; it was his home.
That was until only 5 days before the trade deadline, when fans woke up to devastating news; Luka Doncic was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, along with his teammates Markieff Morris and currently-injured-but-averaging-18-point player Maxi Kleber. In return, the Mavs earned Lakers star Anthony Davis and teammate Max Christie. This type of trade was unheard of: the face of the franchise, the star player, the person who put the team on their back is going, and they won’t come back. The players on both sides were so much that Dallas, hoping for a promising future with All-Star Anthony Davis, was shortened at only their first game together. After making tough buckets and scoring through defenders, Anthony Davis injured his left leg adductor. He does not have a guaranteed datefor when he will come back.
The Dallas Mavs also traded another player by the name of Quentin Grimes. He averaged 10 points per game and 39.8% from the outside of the arc. The player is now on the Philadelphia 76ers with super star Joel Embiid, 2010 All Rookie award nominee Paul George, and rising star Tyrese Maxey. Quentin had a phenomenal game only a month later, dropping 44 career high points against the Golden State Warriors. This has shown how determined he is to score and how he is with the ball. He recently dropped 35 points against the Atlanta Hawks.
The last one is the icing on the cake: Kyrie Irving, known as a cornerstone of handling in basketball, NBA finals champion, rookie of the year, NBA all rookie team, FIBA MVP, USA Male Basketball player of the year, and 9x All-Star, was injured by tearing his ACL. The ACL is a ligament where your knee is; it is greatly dependent on it because it helps a human stabilize themselves. Unfortunately, this ligament does not heal at all, and will never heal completely, scarring a player throughout all sports and dampening how effectively they can play. Kyrie Irving was only playing in the first quarter against the Sacramento Kings when his leg went inward, tearing the ligament. He is now out of the season, and most fans believe that this can even be the end of his amazing career. People who get this part of them injured can retire or just not be the same, like Derrick Rose and many other great athletes. And just like that, in less than three months, the Dallas Mavericks have lost their great, fundamental players and are starting to see a huge decline in their win-loss ratio. They will most likely not be surviving the playoffs anymore.
