Being a Dallas Mavericks fan hasn't always been a walk in the park. Trust the people who have been on this path for a few decades, and who now watch Luka Doncic try to make history. True NBA success has been scarce and that feeling when Dirk Nowitzki and the rest of the 2011 Mavs lifted that Larry O'Brien Trophy after topping the Miami Heat's ‘Big 3' has been quite irreproducible. Not that we have other championships to celebrate.
After a few forgetful seasons, the tide shifted when a young Slovenian by the name of Luka Doncic entered the picture back in 2018. No one really knew what to expect with Doncic's arrival but the crafty court general was quick to prove that he would immediately become one of the best young stars in the league and would bring the Mavs back to their winning ways.
Unfortunately, like any Dallas Mavs story, it hasn't been all bright and shiny.
Doncic has been, not just an All-Star, but also in the MVP conversation for the past few seasons but it still feels that the Mavs are always coming up short. It's been frustrating, to say the least, and here are a few reasons why.
Luka's flamboyance is the best and worst part of his game. Although Doncic's pizzazz on offense has been a thrill to watch, his theatrics on the floor have been rather disappointing. The 22-year-old has had a love-hate relationship with NBA officials and this has gotten him and the Mavs into trouble in more ways than one.
This season, Doncic is riding his 15th technical foul with a handful of crucial games left in the regular season. He's one away from being slapped with a one-game suspension and everyone knows how bad the Mavs are without Luka on the floor.
In normal instances, having to go a full 48 without Doncic should be manageable given that the Mavs are, at least on paper, quite a stacked team. The thing is, Luka's Robin (assuming we're all okay in calling him Batman) Kristaps Porzingis has been a bit fragile. KP was balling last season and, together with Doncic, formed an impressive one-two punch in the NBA Bubble last season.
Woefully, Porzingis had to sit out the rest of the playoffs due to a knee issue and injuries like these have been recurring in the Latvian's young NBA career. This season alone, Porzingis has already missed 24 games for the Mavs due to different injuries and everyone is praying to the basketball gods that he'll be fine come the post-season. Please.
Speaking of Luka and KP, their relationship hasn't been a fairytale. A lot of NBA fans have been nitpicking the chemistry between the Mavs' Euro duo. Even Dallas owner Mark Cuban has addressed the elephant in the room and mentioned that the relationship between the two is pure business. That doesn't sound fun.
As a Mavs fan, that would definitely be worrisome. Hopefully, wins and success on the court help these two work things out for the entire city of Dallas depends on it.
Last but not the least, inconsistency has once again been at the center stage this season. And, in the past two weeks, it's been brutal. At this crucial stage of the season where they're trying to jockey for a decent playoff spot, the Mavs have been on and off. In their last nine games, they've actually put up an impressive 6-3 record including two huge wins against the defending champions Los Angeles Lakers.
The thing is, those three Mavs losses came at the hands of the 27-37 Sacramento Kings in the last two weeks.
All that being said, this is business as usual for the franchise. Mavs fans have been through worse and this season's up-and-down form isn't at all surprising. We #MFFL are loyal fans and as much as it pains us to see technical foul after technical foul and stupid loss after stupid loss, we stay the course and cheer our hearts out.
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