Though Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks were booted out early in the NBA Playoffs, fans and analysts were pretty much in agreement that the team is just a few steps away from becoming contenders. Since Doncic's arrival, as well as some key roster pickups over the years, the Mavericks have moved from a bottom-feeding crew to a mid-tier squad.

One would expect the Mavericks front office to share these sentiments. However, Donnie Nelson, the team's general manager and president of basketball operations, had some sharp words regarding Doncic.

As expected, fans got irate and slammed Nelson. Many defended Doncic, noting he needs more help. Others want Nelson sacked right away as he allegedly doesn't know what he's talking about. Casual fans would probably agree with him though. At face value, Doncic seems to hog the ball and find his own shots. However, statistics reveal otherwise.

In the regular season, Doncic averaged 20.3 drives per game, which ranked second in the NBA behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Other top players in the category include Trae Young, Ja Morant, De'Aaron Fox, DeMar DeRozan, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden. The common denominator of these players is that they're all franchise players. So it makes sense that they're the most aggressive player on their respective teams. Doncic scored 12.2 points from these drives with a pretty good 59.2 percent clip.

In addition, Doncic passed the ball 8.8 times per game out of these drives. This yielded 2.3 assists, which ranked fifth overall. Young owned the number one spot with 2.7 assists out of drives. These figures are proof that Doncic is actually involving his teammates.

Looking at Nelson's quote, he doesn't seem to be referring to Doncic's overall statistics. Rather, he's observing what Doncic does at certain points in the game. It's difficult to identify what Nelson means by balancing Doncic's “kill shots with involving his teammates at the right time.” Going by context clues, he might be referring to clutch situations, which, by the NBA's definition, is the last five minutes of the game with a five-point margin or less.

Doncic and the Mavs have been through 29 close games in the regular season, winning 17 and dropping 12. Looking at the usage rate statistics, Doncic had 40.5 percent of his team's field goals made. For comparison, the likes of LeBron James, Donovan Mitchell, Fox, and DeRozan are also within the 40 percent range.

Doncic also had 55 percent of his team's assists in the clutch. This ranked second among players who have been under clutch situations for at least 29 games with Young in the top spot anew with 59.6 percent. Overall, Doncic's assist rate in the clutch is 47.7 percent.

These statistics simply mean one thing: While Doncic has the ball in his hands for most of the time in the clutch (as star players should), he also makes an effort to involve his teammates. He isn't just passing the ball, but his teammates are actually knocking them down. Those 12 losses may be due to a confluence of factors such as overall execution.

Nelson might be correct in his observation that Doncic needs to and will mature as time goes by. While he's been playing professional ball since he was 16, he's still just 22 years old. He may know a lot about basketball than your average person. But in terms of life knowledge, he has a ton to learn about.

However, if we're just talking about basketball, Luka Doncic is truly doing everything for his team. His decision-making is on-point. The numbers speak for themselves. Maybe Donnie Nelson needs to hear out the fans when they say that the sensational All-Star needs more support.