After losing to the struggling Charlotte Hornets on Friday and again on Sunday, the Dallas Mavericks’ 5-13 record since Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving’s first game together took a turn for the worse.
Kyrie Irving responds to Luka Doncic’s disturbing remarks
The Mavericks star Luka Doncic seemed downcast after a loss, implying that Dallas’ terrible streak has taken the fun out of the game.
“Yeah, it’s really frustrating,” he said. “I think you can see it with me on the court. Sometimes I don’t feel it’s me. I’m just being out there. I used to have fun, smiling on the court, but it’s just been frustrating…”
Kyrie Irving was questioned about Doncic’s remarks on Sunday.
“I’m sure he’s had some private time to acknowledge it, but when he acknowledges it in a public eye, I think it’s usually suppressed emotions from a long period of time and he just wanted to get it out off of his chest,” Irving said. “I’m proud of him for being honest and open.
“We obviously talked about it in the locker room briefly, but for me, I’ve said throughout my whole entire year, this past year, of just really paying attention to the human element. The wins and losses come and go, but the kind of nitpicking of judgment of what’s going on when someone says, ‘I’m having human emotions,’ and then it goes to what’s the blame or who’s the blame? And it starts pointing fingers.
“You know, that’s the aspect that I don’t enjoy about this sport at all. There’s a human element that goes into this where we perform every single day. You know, this is a 24/7 job. I don’t think people realize that, at times, that are not entrenched with us…”
The Mavericks (36-39) have dropped from a fourth seed to the 11th spot in the West despite the additions of Irving from the Brooklyn Nets.
It couldn’t have come at a worse time for Dallas, who have just seven games left in the regular season in which to turn things around.
To make matters worse, a one-game suspension was automatically handed down to Doncic on Sunday after he received his 16th technical foul of the season.
