Kansas City Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes recently got on the First Things First show on FOX Sports and showed his support for Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks, who are one of four teams still alive in the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
Patrick Mahomes believes in the Mavericks
Asked by host Nick Wright about the Mavericks' chances of delivering a title for the franchise this season amid an upcoming series against the Minnesota Timberwolves that starts Wednesday night in the Twin Cities, the future Hall of Famer signal-caller responded with a nice summary of why he thinks Luka Doncic and the Mavs have what it takes to win it all. Mahomes also acknowledged the threat the Timberwolves have, particularly mentioning the dominance of Anthony Edwards, who has been doing a fantastic job being the face of Minnesota in the postseason.
“It's going to be a great series, this series right here. Because Anthony Edwards has been dominant. That team is a great team, played great defense. And it's going to be a hard series. But I think the Mavs have what it takes. Kyrie's been playing great ball. Derrick Jones Jr. has been playing great defense. PJ Washington playing defense and offense, Mahomes said.
Mahomes also mentioned the huge shot in the arm the Mavericks got via trades that landed Dallas Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington, who have been great as part of the supporting cast behind Doncic and Irving.
“They [Mavericks] did a lot of great things with the trade deadline. I mean, I remember seeing it. I went to a [Denver] Nuggets game. They played the Nuggets early after the trade deadline. And you could see the athleticism that they kind of brought in. And I think if Luka plays the way that Luka can play and kind of replays like Kyrie, they got as good a chance if anybody had won it at all.”
During the Mavs' second-round series versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, Washington even finished second in scoring with an average of 17.7 points while shooting an outstanding 46.9 percent from behind the arc and 47.6 percent from the field overall.
The Timberwolves are a big obstacle in front of the Mavericks, quite literally and figuratively. Apart from Edwards, Minnesota also has a formidable big-man combo of Karl-Anthony Towns and four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year winner Rudy Gobert. The Timberwolves also just took down and ended the championship reign of Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets after a grueling seven-game series in the Western Conference semifinal round. Not only that but they also swept Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns back in the first round.
The Mavericks are not going to make it easy for Minnesota, though. They have the stars and the depth. Dallas' defense may also be a little overlooked. Over the final five games of the Thunder series, the Mavs have posted a 109.7 defensive rating, which is third-best among all playoff teams over the same time sample size in this postseason.
Patrick Mahomes' championship pedigree
Of course, Mahomes knows a thing or two about winning championships. After all, he has won two Super Bowls with the Chiefs, including one in each of the last two NFL seasons. He is also a three-time Super Bowl MVP and a two-time league MVP, which are on top of his six Pro Bowls and two First-Team All-Pro nods.
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