Dallas Basketball

WATCH: TNT's Kenny Smith Says Dallas Mavs' Luka Doncic is All-NBA Second Team

In what came off as a disrespectful take to Dallas Mavericks fans on social media, TNT's Kenny Smith said he'd put Luka Doncic on the All-NBA Second Team this year despite his historical numbers.

Dalton Trigg

USA TODAY Sports (left), NBA on TNT (right)
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We aren't naive enough to think all national media talking heads watch a lot of Dallas Mavericks games. Because if they did, we wouldn't see silly takes being thrown around on national television like what we saw from NBA on TNT's Kenny Smith on Thursday night.

Although positions no longer matter on All-NBA teams, Charles Barkley asked Smith which two guards he'd pick for All-NBA First Team.

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

"If I had to go two – Anthony Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander," Smith said.

Over New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson and Mavs' MVP candidate Luka Doncic, who is averaging a never before seen stat line of 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and 9.8 assists? ... "Yes, they would be Second Team," Smith said.

A legitimate case could be made for Brunson being on the All-NBA Second Team, but given that Doncic is currently in a head-to-head battle with Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic in the MVP race pretty much assures that he'll make his fifth consecutive All-NBA First Team this year.

Despite Doncic being a stabilizing force for the Mavs all season long, even when the team was having to battle through several key roster injuries in the first half of the season, he still isn't getting the respect he deserves for a truly special and historic season. No matter where Doncic ends up in the MVP or All-NBA ballots, though, he'll have a chance to prove all of his critics wrong in the playoffs, which begin on April 20.

The Mavs will open the postseason against the Los Angeles Clippers for the third time in five years. Doncic, after not being able to get over the hump in two hard-fought series losses to the Clippers in 2020 and 2021, will be looking for a much different outcome this time with the Mavs having a revamped roster and the No. 1 defense in the league over the last 18 games.

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Dalton Trigg

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.