Mavericks frustrated Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving by trying to tank early
The Dallas Mavericks tried to tank sooner, but Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving wouldn’t allow it.
Things didn't end well for the Dallas Mavericks in the 2022-23 NBA season.
The team lost its final two games in an embarrassing attempt to tank and keep its top-10 protected pick from the New York Knicks. Following the blatant tank job, the Mavericks were fined $750,000 by the league.
But if the front office would have had its way, the fine may not have happened because the tank job would have started sooner.
According to Kevin O’Connor on FanDuel TV, the plan was for the Mavericks to start their tanking sooner, but there was pushback from Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, who wanted to still compete.
“The tanking was actually supposed to begin sooner,” O’Connor said via FanDuel TV. “My sources say that in late March, Dallas coaches met with players to discuss a plan for Markieff Morris and JaVale McGee to play heavier minutes. That is when the tanking was supposed to begin but Luka and especially Kyrie were agitated that the team was waving the white flag and both refused to sit.”
Another chapter written in the story that will never end that is the Mavericks' 2022-23 season.
The team felt that trading for Irving would have made them a better ball club. Instead, it yielded mixed results because Doncic and Irving didn't have enough time on the floor together.
Irving is now an unrestricted free agent, set to command a max offer sheet from teams around the league. Dallas can offer Irving the most money out of anyone at five years, $272 million.
In a summer that will be the biggest in franchise history, starting it off with a report about the Mavs' stars possibly being angry with the organization for tanking isn't encouraging.
