On Wednesday evening, the Dallas Mavericks dropped to 2-6 with a home loss against the lowly New Orleans Pelicans. It was one of the better games so far for number one overall draft pick Cooper Flagg, who scored 20 points to go along with nine rebounds, but ultimately, the Mavericks fell victim to a clutch shot from Pelicans wing Saddiq Bey in the closing moments.
The Mavericks have for the most part been a trainwreck so far this year, already four games under the .500 mark just eight games into the season, but not everyone is abandoning ship just yet.
Recently, Mavericks wing Naji Marshall (who coincidentally used to play for the Pelicans), took to his Instagram story to post a quote from rapper Kanye West, stating that “They act like you can't lose a few games and still win the championship,” (via Joey Mistretta on X, formerly Twitter).
While it's true that no one in the NBA has been vaulted into or eliminated from championship contention based on the first two weeks of the season, it's hard to imagine anyone looking at this Mavericks team and seeing a championship in their future at this point.
A rough start for the Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks weren't necessarily expected to be juggernauts right off the bat this year considering that Kyrie Irving is sidelined for the opening chunk of the season. However, fans were likely hoping for a little bit better of a start than this. Dallas' defense, which was supposed to be among the best units in the league this unit, has been far from that so far, and it doesn't help that Anthony Davis has already suffered an extended injury absence, which continued on Wednesday night.
The early returns on Flagg have been mixed, as the number one pick has showcased the immense athleticism and skill that allowed him to be such a highly touted prospect, but is also suffering through some of the usual growing pains that rookies must deal with.
Dallas will next take the floor on Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
