I like to pretend that I’m above drama in the NBA, that I only pay attention to the actual on-court product and the associated statisticals, that the personalities and the clashes thereof interest me not at all, but I’ll admit, the idea of everyone (or just a few players) on the Mavericks being super resentful of Luka Doncic’s beastitude is entertaining to me.
I mean, if I were Harrison Barnes, and I was the world’s least exciting 20 point per game scorer ever, I would be super mad that some fat Slovenian rookie came in and started being way more exciting and being anointed the future of the franchise. And if I were Dennis Smith Jr., I’d be annoyed that I used to be the hot new thing in Dallas and now I was marginalized. And if I were DeAndre Jordan, I’d just be a horrible human being all the time which wouldn’t change when Doncic came in and started throwing me lobs even though he didn’t have to.
All that said, I haven’t seen much evidence besides that one instance of Jordan stealing a rebound from him and some slightly lackluster bench clapping that there’s anything wrong in Maverick-land. But maybe there will be tonight, and it will be Doncic instigating it, since he was denied the chance to win the game for the Mavericks in favor of DSJ, who, uh, didn’t come through in the clutch.