The Dallas Mavericks were the team most willing to take a chance on trading for polarizing point guard Kyrie Irving amid his drama with the Brooklyn Nets. However, while the Mavs simple need for star talent likely served as the foundation for their interest in acquiring Irving, ESPN's Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon credit Mavs superstar Luka Doncic and head coach Jason Kidd for being the “driving force” in Dallas' decision to make the trade.
Doncic “had grown frustrated the Mavs were floating around .500 despite him playing better than ever, and team and league sources said he privately had been pushing the front office to find a way to acquire the co-star required for the Mavs to have any chance to contend for a championship.”
Kidd and Irving have long professed their respect for one another, with Kyries respect for Kidd deemed to be a factor in why he has Dallas on his shortlist of preferred trade destinations since last offseason. Still, Doncic hadn't said anything to that point that would make one suspect that he was interested in teaming up with Irving specifically.
Nonetheless, when watching the Mavs post-trade, it's clear that there's a mutual respect between Luka and Kyrie as players when they're on the court. Neither have a problem deferring to one another and allowing the other the opportunity to shine.
In fact, should Irving opt to leave Dallas in the offseason, the early returns say that it won't be because of on-court or off-court tension with his co-star.
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