Dallas Basketball

Mavs’ Mark Cuban: Kyrie Irving Knows Dallas is 'Luka's Team'

Heading into the first full season of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving's partnership, it's clear who runs the show in Dallas … and that’s a good sign for the Mavericks.
Michael Mulford|
Mavs’ Mark Cuban: Kyrie Irving Knows Dallas is 'Luka's Team'
Mavs’ Mark Cuban: Kyrie Irving Knows Dallas is 'Luka's Team'

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Dallas Mavericks

Prior to last season's trade deadline, the Dallas Mavericks made a huge splash by trading for eight-time All-Star Kyrie Irving, teaming him up with Luka Doncic to create a fearful tandem for hopefully many years to come.

On Wednesday's episode of The Pat Bev Pod with Rone, Mavs owner Mark Cuban joined the show to discuss all things Mavericks related, including the dynamic between Doncic and Irving, including whose team it is.

"Kyrie is a super smart guy and he knows it's Luka's team," Cuban said. "There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it; this is Luka's team."

From the outside looking in, there was plenty of noise throughout the league and from the media regarding whether Irving would be able to coexist with Doncic in the Dallas backcourt as the constant turnover in the last few years of Irving's career had raised some red flags.

But, Cuban and the Mavs feel confident that the two superstars can not just coexist alongside each other, but thrive and compete at the highest level, as he called the duo a "top-5 combo in the league" when they took the floor together last season, no matter what role either Doncic or Irving are playing.

"He (Irving) can play the 2 and when Luka's out of the game, he'll play point," Cuban said. "Luka's that good that when Luka's in there, if Kai needs to run to the corner, he'll run to the corner. If they double him and he needs to come to the foul line, just get a bounce pass and play 4-on-3, what's better than that?"

The small sample size from last season is just a sneak peek of what the duo of Doncic and Irving can achieve playing alongside each other. And as long as there's no stepping on toes regarding whose team this is, the Mavs should find themselves in a better place during the 2023-24 season.

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Michael Mulford
MICHAEL MULFORD

Michael Mulford is a writer/editor for Dallas Basketball, where he extensively covers the Dallas Mavericks. He also covers the Chicago Bulls as the Managing Editor for Bulls Wire of USA Today Sports Media Group. Mulford grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and graduated from the University of North Texas in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Event, and Sports Management. He began his pursuit of sports writing in 2017 with Dallas Sports Fanatic, where he covered the Mavericks’ G League affiliate, Texas Legends. He then became the Managing Editor of Dallas Sports Fanatic just one year later and has covered the Mavericks as a credentialed media member since 2018, including covering numerous playoff games between 2021-22 and covering the team at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in 2019. In his time covering the Mavericks, Mulford has conducted numerous interviews for exclusive stories including with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki, former Maverick and current VP of Basketball Ops Michael Finley, former Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson, and more. You can follow and interact with Mulford on Twitter at @TheMulf.

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