Tim Hardaway Sr. slams Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving's leadership
As the Dallas Mavericks season nears its end, Tim Hardaway Sr. went on national T.V. and blamed Mavericks leadership for the team’s woes.
There isn't a singular reason for the Dallas Mavericks' disappointing play as the NBA season nears its climactic conclusion.
As the Mavericks sit out of the NBA Play-In Tournament, and uncertainty swirls about whether Dallas has enough to crawl to the 10th seed, Tim Hardaway Sr., father of Tim Hardaway Jr., went on FS1’s The Carton Show to give his opinion as to why the Mavericks haven't been a good ball club.
His diagnosis of the team's malady? The leadership of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
"That trade wasn't for them, what isn't broken doesn't need to be fixed,” Hardaway said, referring to the Mavs’ trade for Irving before this year’s deadline. “They're missing a leader out there. Luka is not a leader, Kyrie is not a leader. Jalen Brunson was a leader.
“A leader shows by example too, by playing defense. When he says something, he does it also, and that's what a leader is. And like I said, those two guys are not leaders, they're complimentary, dominant great basketball players. Great scorers."
Strangely enough, Doncic appeared to agree with Hardaway Sr. in Tuesday's post-practice media availability.
“I’m the leader of this team,” Doncic said. “The one to blame is me.”
Still, Dallas does have a shot at sneaking in the backdoor of the NBA postseason. If the Thunder go winless, while the Mavericks win their remaining three games — the play-in tournament will be calling the Mavericks' name.
But needing help from other teams, unable to control their own destiny, isn't where the Mavs wanted to be.
Yet, it is where the Mavericks find themselves with only a couple of games left to play. Postseason or not, the Mavericks are in this situation because of a lack of leadership, and until that is fixed, the issues on the team will continue to be the same.
“It’s disappointing, obviously,” Doncic said. “Being in the conference finals last year to being barely, I mean, trying to get into the play-in, it’s a very disappointing season, I think.”
