A year removed from making the Western Conference Finals, the Dallas Mavericks currently find themselves 8-5 and sitting fifth in the standings.
While it hasn’t been the smoothest of starts for Jason Kidd’s club, the reason why they are playing as well as they currently are is the MVP-caliber contributions they are getting from Luka Doncic.
The 23-year-old is playing out of his mind right now.
In a recent session with the media, Kidd admitted that there was one thing about Doncic that was a big concern for him.
“Kidd is also worried about Dončić constantly getting knocked to the floor early in the season,” NBA insider David Aldridge reported.
“He says those falls may not show up now, or even this season, but they take a toll over a career. ‘The wood always wins,’ Kidd said.”
It’s easy to see why this is something that would worry Kidd. Dallas will only go as far as Doncic carries them this season. And he has been playing major minutes for them.
Over the Mavericks’ last three outings Doncic has played a minimum of 38 minutes. He has yet to player fewer than 35 minutes in a single game this year.
That’s a lot of milage, already.
Couple that with Doncic’s fearless style of play and you see why Kidd is concerned.
Kidd has found himself on the wrong side of some controversies already this year. His weird beef with Christian Wood didn’t win him many fans.
Particularly given how selfless Wood has been about the whole thing.
The photos speak for themselves. https://t.co/mE6UNRx7kh
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 16, 2022
But Kidd is right here.
Doncic is too important to the Mavericks’ season to play in such a risky manner. His minutes should be reduced, one. And two, he needs to play less aggressively with his body.
The NBA season is a marathon, not a sprint.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
