It felt like the sky was falling for the Dallas Mavericks for a while. And all that angst and unmet expectations came to a head over the weekend when the Mavericks dropped two games to the Hornets on Friday and Sunday. 

After Friday's loss, Luka Doncic, typically playing with a sense of effervescent joy, came to the media room carrying a sense of somberness. There, he laid his heart bare, revealing that he was dealing with issues bigger than basketball that stole the joy he's grown accustomed to while on the hardwood. 

Sunday's 110-104 loss to the same team, born out of a lifelessness the Mavericks have grown friendly toward, only doubled down on the joylessness that is a staple in Dallas' once close-knit locker room. 

Yet, through the Mavericks' felt agony of another defeat, one that dropped them essentially two games out of the NBA's Play-in tournament, those around Doncic came to his defense. 

Most notably, Kyrie Irving praised the 24-year-old star for being open to those that place unruly and, oftentimes, incredulous expectations on the prodigy from Slovenia.

"I'm sure he's had some private time to acknowledge it, but when he acknowledges it in the 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, and I'm proud of him for being honest and open," Irving said. 

Naturally, the Mavericks discussed Doncic's hardships in locker room conversations that the outside world isn't privy to. And though Doncic may be experiencing a subtle joylessness on the court, he didn't let it impact his performance on Sunday. 

He cruised to a smileless 40 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists. He was the reason Dallas crawled out of its early hole that saw the seam down double-digits before the end of the first frame of action. 

For a stretch during Sunday's game, it looked as though the Mavericks were going to sneak out of Charlotte with a win they didn't deserve. And then, the familiar breakdowns happened: lapses in defensive rotations, turnovers, errant shots, and a lack of rebounding. 

It was the same story, with the same cast of characters, and Doncic's off-court struggles or not, the Mavericks are on the outside looking in regarding the postseason. 

Yet, somehow, as the pressure to perform only builds, as Dallas is letting its season slip away, Irving is reminding not only Doncic but the world of one fact: there is more to life than the results of an NBA regular season game. 

"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?" Irving said. "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."

Postseason expectations or not, Irving is showing a sense of leadership that a star — still not to the mid-point of his 20s in Doncic — needs. Whether Irving's words are the message those watching and analyzing the team want to hear, that there is more to life, or as Jason Kidd put it a few weeks ago, "no one is dying," is beside the point. Following another unwarranted outcome, Irving is choosing to speak to Doncic in a way that can remind the former prodigy there is still more to life and that this storm, too, shall pass.