Mavs All-Star Donuts: LeBron & Curry Dazzle, Luka ‘Like Mike'; Dragic to Nets
It was a successful weekend for the NBA as it held the All-Star festivities in Cleveland and honored it’s top-75 players of all-time in what is the league’s 75th anniversary. The Dallas Mavericks, specifically, had a lot going for themselves as Luka Doncic, Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki were a part of several special moments throughout the weekend.
And then after it was all over? Well, the business aspect of the NBA returned in full swing with a couple of noteworthy transactions taking place on Monday. Today's batch of 'Mavs Donuts' covers it all.
DONUT 1: CAN LUKA BE 'LIKE MIKE?'
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At halftime of the All-Star Game, when the NBA honored its top-75 players, the greatest legend of them all, Michael Jordan, went out of his was to embrace Luka Doncic in a way that will give any Mavs fan chills.
“It’s amazing, I don’t know how to explain that moment,” said Doncic. “It’s just unbelievable. MJ knows my name. … Just an unbelievable moment. I have no words for that.”
Even after being signed by Jordan Brand for a couple of years now, Doncic is still star-struck by the greatness of MJ, and who can blame him? As great Doncic has been in four NBA seasons, perhaps Jordan can further enhance that as the postseason nears. Can Doncic be 'like Mike?' Based on where Jordan was at age 22, we'd say Doncic is on the right track.
DONUT 2: STEPH WINS ALL-STAR MVP
When you have a collection of the brightest NBA stars in one game, having a standout performance is especially noteworthy.
This was the case with Steph Curry, as he torched the nets to the tune of 50 points on 16-of-27 shooting from deep. Curry ended up winning the All-Star MVP award and came up just three points shy of breaking Anthony Davis’ All-Star record of 52 points.
DONUT 3: LEBRON STILL GETS HIS SPOTLIGHT
Although LeBron James didn’t win the All-Star MVP award, he hit the most important shot of the game — a Dirk Nowitzki-esque one-legged fadeaway to give Team LeBron a walk-off 163-160 victory.
James ended the night with 24 points, and the fact that he hit the game-winner in Cleveland makes for a fascinating, storybook-like ending — especially when you consider that James hasn’t closed the door on returning to Cleveland one more time.
DONUT 4: GIANNIS JOKES WITH 'SOFTER' J-KIDD
One of the biggest knocks from the media on Jason Kidd as a head coach came from how he treated players when he was with the Milwaukee Bucks, despite Giannis Antetokounmpo always showing admiration for him.
On Sunday, Kidd, Antetokounmpo and Doncic shared a lighthearted moment, as Giannis told Kidd he had become “soft.” Apparently Doncic was late to practice once, and Antetokounmpo reminded Kidd what would’ve happened to him if he had been late back in the day.
DONUT 5: DIRK IS A HIGHLIGHT ALL HIS OWN
Anytime Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki is a part of anything these days, it’s considered a special highlight to us. Nowitzki was heavily involved in All-Star Weekend, and it made for some incredible photos you can see here:
DONUT 6: CAN LUKA ENTER THE MVP RACE?
Could Luka Doncic realistically make inroads on the NBA MVP race?
Doncic has taken his game to new heights leading into the NBA All-Star break. Over the last 10 games, he's averaging 35.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 9.8 assists while shooting 48.8 percent from the floor and 43.3 percent from beyond the arc.
During a recent episode of ESPN's NBA Today, Richard Jefferson shared his thoughts on the MVP race — stating that Luka Doncic perhaps deserves more consideration to win the award than what he's been getting.
DONUT 7: IT’S TIME FOR MAVS TO HONOR FINLEY
The University of Wisconsin honored Michael Finley by raising his No. 24 into the rafters at halftime of the team’s 77-63 win over Michigan. Finley averaged 18.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in four seasons at Wisconsin.
It’s about time that the Dallas Mavericks retire Finley’s No. 4 in the American Airlines Center rafters. Finley spent more than half of his 17-year NBA career in Dallas, where he was a two-time All-Star and averaged 19.8 points per game on 44.6 percent shooting from the field and 37.6 percent from deep.
DONUT 8: CATCH UP WITH OUR NBA NOTEBOOK
There has been plenty of noteworthy news from around the league lately with many of its top stars answering questions from the media in Cleveland.
Here are some of the top storylines from around the league with our NBA Notebook, including LeBron James potentially leaving the Lakers, Chris Paul’s hand injury and the Pelicans’ Zion Williamson situation.
DONUT 9: MAVS GM ‘EXCLUSIVE EXCLUSIVE’
Mavs GM Nico Harrison took some time out of his busy schedule this to give an exclusive interview on our Mavs Step Back Podcast. During the interview, Harrison touches on why the front office ultimately decided it was time to move on from Porzingis, what the ideal 'second star' next to Luka Doncic looks like in his mind, why people shouldn't have been surprised with Jason Kidd's coaching success in Dallas and much more.
You can listen to the full episode below, or you can read the transcribed quotes from the episode here.
DONUT 10: BLAZERS WAIVE DSJ; DOES MAVS REUNION MAKE SENSE?
The Portland Trail Blazers are waiving Dennis Smith Jr., who has been sidelined recently with an elbow injury.
Smith, 24, is of course the former Mavs first-round pick who has bounced around since departing Dallas. He signed a non-guaranteed contract with Portland in the 2021 offseason and won a roster spot in training camp. He has since appeared in 37 games for the team, averaging 5.6 points, 3.6 assists and 2.4 rebounds per in 17.2 minutes per contest.
Smith has reiterated to DallasBasketball.com that he would love to have an opportunity at a 'Mavs reunion' at some point. Although that reunion might not make much sense at this point in time, it's something to keep an eye on going forward if the Mavs make other moves that alter their guard depth. You never know what could be in the cards.
DONUT 11: NETS SIGN GORAN DRAGIC
The Dallas Mavericks were long expected to be the landing spot for Goran Dragic after his eventual buyout, but landing Spencer Dinwiddie as a backup point guard seemingly has changed the outlook for that situation.
Meanwhile, Dragic, 35 - a countryman and friend of Luka Doncic's - is joining the Brooklyn Nets, as reported by The Athletic on Monday.
Signing with the Nets reunites the veteran with Steve Nash, named Brooklyn's head coach ahead of the 2020-21 season. They played together on the Phoenix Suns from the 2008-09 season to mid-2011.
DONUT 12: THE HOME(COURT) STRETCH IS HERE
After all the All-Star festivities, the home stretch of the NBA season is here for the Mavs. Dallas will tip things off again on Friday night against the Utah Jazz. The Mavs trail the Jazz by just 1.5 games in the Western Conference standing, and this will be the first of three head-to-head meetings between the two teams over the final 22 games.
If Dallas wants homecourt advantage in the playoffs, it will have to quite literally go through Utah to get there.
