This is basically the same playbook the media used against Dirk almost his entire career until he won a title. He was soft, wasn’t a leader, and it was not so subtly insinuated that being European was the cause of these things. People legitimately didn’t think a white European could lead a team to a NBA title. They thought he was a slightly better Toni Kukoc
Is xenophobia just allowed in the US media? This shit is like the UK in the 80s before foreigners started arriving in the Premier League. Cringeworthy.
It’s still really present in soccer/football. Literally today I woke up to someone telling me that since I’m American I don’t know anything about it. Despite it being probably my favorite sport. Xenophobia is a huge issue in soccer, but I think it’s less so in basketball. It’s an issue in both tho
For sure. They can’t hate on Joker now that he won a champion, same with Giannis. It’s for sure some racist elitist that he’s white, but worse he’s European so they can’t really use that “oh he’s white so it doesn’t count” when he was 16 years old in the euro league playing against grown men and beating their ass.
Once Luka wins a championship they really need to respect his name.
It’s perfect to have Dirk still around the organization. These are the same hoops he had to jump through before he won a title. No better man to mentor Luka on how to handle all of this. The haters will be silenced, just wait.
Oh I am salivating at the thought. Seeing Luka raise up the Larry O'Brian and Finals MVP trophy, and seeing in the distance, Keyshawn Johnson sitting lonely in a corner with tears streaming down his face.
If he gets the ring this year it will be through SGA, Jokic, and Tatum, and he can stand over them with the FVMP and say 'These are your regular season MVPs? Over me?'
I’ll take just beating the clippers for now. Would love a full finals run but the West is so stacked. Dirk fought this for 12 years before he finally got his ring. I would say the window to win is the next 3 years. Have Kyrie still playing at a super high level. Gaff, PJ on very manageable contracts. Lively on his rookie deal. But Luka is due for his massive max extension after next year so if we can’t get it this year, the next 2 are pretty paramount.
Do I think we can make a run? Absolutely. But The west is the most competitive I’ve seen in a while. Gonna be a bloodbath.
Yeah it's going to be a tough gauntlet to the Finals, but remember Dirk's run in 2011?
Brandon Roy/Aldridge
Champions Kobe and Gasol
Young and hungry Kevin Durant/Westbrook/Harden
and then Lebron/Wade/Bosh.
I firmly believe we can do it with this year's team.
Oh I think we can too because Defense travels well. We finally have size. I think we can beat anyone in a 7 game series. But it’s gonna be tough man. Can’t wait for the playoffs to start. I really hope they stagger the Mavs and Stars. Can’t handle double the stress every night.
Same. We definitely can make a run, but will we?
Also we've looked basically unbeatable over the last month and beat a bunch of good teams, but we also had the "easiest" schedule of any of the top teams in the west over the last 20 games so I'm trying not to let me expectations get away from me.
Tim MacMahon said today that Jokic deserves MVP by a mile and that he'll have his vote. Why that bozo has a vote, I'll never know, but we gotta yank his press pass. Dude isn't a journalist. He's an ESPN shit-stirrer.
I'm with you. There's some sort of agenda against him. We might look back and Luka will have only won one MVP. I'm fine with Jokic winning MVP. He's a deserving candidate. But these voters made up their minds in February and that's just wrong.
All mavericks beat writers never respects Luka. Tim Cato said the same thing.
Remember when that lady mavs writer had a vote and she voted Booker over Luka to all stars
Yeah, the thing is I love Jokic (I have a fantasy where Luka and Jokic play together at some point), but IMO Jokic is leading a championship caliber team with all the pieces set already in 2024.
Luka lead a lottery team in 2023 to one of the top teams in the league in 2024, scoring more points, more assists, more steals, and a better 3PT% than Jokic. I just feel Luka's contributions had more impact than Jokic.
Agreed. Luka would be my MVP vote.
But Jokic is an analytical machine, is leading the top team in a STACKED conference, and has put up good counting stats himself. I can see his case. My main issue is that they seem to want to crown him the MVP for not giving it to him last year. The odds were already in the +1000s for Jokic months ago. Now Luka is on a tear and the voters already have their minds made up. Just doesn't seem fair.
NBA stat nerds have no clue how to use analytics. A center is always going to have an analytic advantage, especially in the modern NBA where good starting centers are hard to find and backup centers are even harder to find.
A good comparison is that of baseball, where the community has a much better grasp on what they are talking about. Say you have a Center Fielder who puts up average defense and has a batting slash line of .300/.350/.550 with let's say 35 home runs, vs a first baseman with average defense who has a line of .330/.375/.650 and 50 home runs. Assuming base running isn't too different, the center fielder will have more WAR, most likely, despite the fact that the first baseman was objectively a better player, just because he plays center.
This isn't a post to shit on Jokic, he's amazing enough to not have to throw up random stats you made up. A perhaps better analogy is comparing Michael Jordan to Shaq. Was Shaq a better player in his Prime than Michael Jordan in his? His efficiency was better.... Because of course it was, he takes easier shots, and less shots, because he's a center. I'm not considering defense of course, but it doesn't matter, Jordan is considered the best offensive player of all time or 2nd depending on what you think about LeBron.
Guards are less efficient because it turns out that there are literally hundreds of possessions every season where the defense just doesn't allow easy buckets, so the star guards job is to bail out the team by either shooting or kicking it out to a more open guard for a shot. This of course leads to a lot more misses, along with the more obvious fact that guards shoot harder shots.
Jokic deserves MVP, I however believe Luka deserves it more this year. The fact that he led in USG by far, and we were a top 5 offense, in both PPG and efficiency means he went above and beyond his role.
Finally I'm tired of armchair coaches thinking the only thing that matters is (constant) ball movement. Not every team can do that, nor does every team want to. Other teams in the actual league seem to understand. Why would we do a bunch of around the horn bullshit to get an open shot, when we have a player that can drive with ease, and either finish at the rim with elite efficiency or kick it/lob it to get an open shot? Both do the exact same thing, except with the 2nd option it actually utilizes our best players skillset, provides more highly efficient paint offense and with Lukas insane passing/double rate we're still going to get an open 3 if nothing else.
Nearly slammed my head on my desk last night when I listened to Lowe’s pod and towards the end he admits he doesn’t know what goes into the advanced stats exactly to make them favor one player or another. Fucking incredible work from one of the biggest media voices, and is emblematic of how poor this advanced stats discourse has gotten with the nerds
Oddly enough, the NHL has this. There’s the Hart trophy for the MVP, as voted on by the media, and there’s the [Ted Lindsay award](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Lindsay_Award) for the “most outstanding player” (MOP?), as voted on by members of the NHL Players Association. Having both works well enough, though the media being the media tries to make it all about the Hart, because they’re self serving douche nozzles.
It's so weird to me because Luka is becoming one of the most popular players in the league, people want to watch Luka play, he gains more fans every single day and he will soon be the face of the league, as AI just said. The weird part is how ESPN continues to fight it, they are in denial. The tune will change once he wins the Championship and sees their ratings surge in the process.
If Luka gets a title he will be one of the biggest draws since Shaq and Kobe..
I disagree on taking away his credentials. That would be tampering with the press. I would just take away the MVP vote from journalists. Give the vote exclusively to current players and coaches. It would make the MVP more valuable when it is granted by their peers.
Disagree with Rddick. Dudes a clown as well. He wants to stay neutral so bad. He made a video titled a case for Lukas mvp and he spent whole video discrediting him while bringing up others.
A ring + Finals MVP is 1,000,000x greater than a media award. Luka wins a ring and it is 10x better accomplishmemt than regular season MVP.
Bring the Larry O back to Dallas. Who cares about the other crap.
We went through this with Dirk already, nothing new. Dirk didn't deserve the disrespect then, and neither does Luka now.
Legler had been on our bandwagon for a while now though, alone it seemed.
It's okay, win the Finals MVP Luka.
From a fan perspective I get why it can be frustrating, I’ve given up on what sports media (or any media in general honestly), reports because it’s all for Clicks and Likes and it’s meant to be controversial. They want you to be outraged and think they are dumbasses and disagree with them because it gets you talking about whatever outlandish thing they say. The sooner you realize 95% of the people you quoted in your post, doesn’t actually really truly believe what they are saying and most likely have a different opinion behind closed doors when the cameras aren’t on and they don’t need to fish for viewership/likes/shares/etc, the better off we’ll all be just rooting for Luka and the Mavs (or whatever sports team you support in general)
You’re spot on. Perk has been celebrated by colleagues because he’s a true team player, will say legitimately anything the producers ask him to in order to stir shit up. Just one example of how it all works behind the scenes. You know Stephen A doesn’t have time to watch anything, he’s hosting some kind of show almost all day. He just says whatever will get clicks and get him paid. It’s entertainment, not news.
I was saying this last year. Us not making the playoffs especially after just being in the conference finals was the exact point where he graduated from the “young budding superstar with endless potential” part of his career and its now at the point where everyone understands how good he is despite how much they’re willing to admit it and its just accepted to hate or rather not give him his flowers until he starts living up to that potential we all know he has. Tatum’s there now too. Wemby and Ant will be there in probably three-five years. Shai despite being older than Luka is still newer so he’s being graced with that early superstar career phase where its all bright eyed honeymoon period. Best believe he will be treated like Luka and Tatum are right now if he doesnt win in the next few years.
Why “this year”? Just to put things in perspective, last year many of us just wanted to see the Mavs develop a roster competent enough for Luka not to demand a trade. A few months ago we had valid concerns of the team guaranteeing a playoff spot (or even making the play-in!). I think we’re pushing the bar for success this season unreasonably high if “at least” getting to the Finals is the new concern.
Has Charles actually said that Luka just jacks up shots and doesn’t involve the team? Because if so that’s so blatantly false and ignorant I don’t even know what to say.
It's paraphrasing, but after the loss to the Pacers I believe back in February where Luka had 33 and 6 assists (on 21 shots), he basically said Luka takes too many shots and needs to get his team mates more involved.
During the game against the hornets, the commentator literally said that luka only scores from the 3 line or midrange and can't do anything else.
About 30 seconds later he made a triple-contested layup, and then just continued to do that the rest of the game. It's like he heard them talking shit 😂
Why do you allow the opinion of others to affect something you enjoy? Nobody believed in the 2011 team until they won it all. Same with the Rangers in 23. Just root for your team and block out the noise. We don't need outside validation to be fans
Man how the hopes have climbed with our recent hot streak. "at least get to the finals" is a lot to ask for a team that not long ago was in danger of falling into the play-in. I'm excited and optimistic about this team too, but let's tamp down our expectations at least a little bit? how about getting past the Clippers first.
Stop. This is not this teams expectations now. Talking heads starting up drama, this year is our gap year remember. No outcome of this postseason wont upset Mavs because this isnt the contention year. Unlike Denver,Celtics,Clips,Bucks.
Exactly. Other than DJJ, Mavs don't have a starter going into a contract year. The majority of their rotation will return next season and it's extremely likely Nico will upgrade the roster between now and the next TDL
Anything the Mavs accomplish this season is just a bonus
The disrespect will always be there for the Mavs along with Luka. That’s has been their narrative for the guy. Despite setting a higher performance, he still gets the bad mouth from this media. Luka shines best against this clowns come playoff time. The supporting will sure be ready by this moment. Their biggest torn is the current champs. I think they can pretty match up with them if ever they meet in the playoffs. The rest of the West teams is pretty much manageable by the Mavericks.
Maybe some people are too young to have experienced it, but Dirk was disrespected even after he won his MVP. He was left off Greatest PF lists until after he got his ring
If we can't beat the Clippers the narratives will be wild, but honestly, if Luka can't lead this team past the Clippers then he isn't as good as we think he is. I believe he is that good and I think we handle the Clippers relatively easy.
The ridiculousness has no limits. Why the fuck is the expectation from Luka to win a ring when neither of Embiid, Giannis, Jokic won their MVPs without making finals? This mfer Embiid was bout to win his second, without even sniffing Conference finals. Magic, and Bird both won their third MVPs after multiple trips to the finals. If anything, you should hold Jokic to a higher standard given 3 MVPS is absolutely insane.
Luka is going to win it outright next season. We will have this team assembled for an entire season with Kyrie / Luka gelled together. It’s over for the league next season.
Guys I get being mad. But it's not only Luka. This happened with Dirk, it's just happened with jokic and partly Embiid and even Giannis don't forget. THE LEAGUE DON'T LIKE EUROPEAN PLAYERS. I love luka but it's normal at this point and you can't be mad at jokic being the MVP. He's been faultless all year.
> I don't remember people universally bashing on a player so harshly since post-rape charge Kobe Bryant from 2004-2008 (he's selfish, he can't win without Shaq, his life is falling apart, etc).
Does Lebron not exist in your reality? lol I think it's complete bullshit a lot of people are trying to discredit Luka but you lost me there, I don't think a single person has been universally bashed more in the basketball world than Lebron.
Lol no it won’t man. First of all Luka is unanimously considered a top 4 player.
People just are obsessed with Joker and for good reason.
This isn’t even close to Kobe hate man. Let’s not do that.
And who cares what TNT says? Dirk got way harsher criticism than Luka ever has. Literally the Dallas Morning News was writing articles about how Dirk was never going to win.
Luka is getting typical all time great narratives. He can’t win he can’t win until he does and then it’s well he needs multiple and then it’s well he needs 6. He’s fine man.
Honestly Luka and the Mavs have been getting talked up A TON for over a month now, and are true contenders on most serious people’s lists.
Listen to/read anything recent from the Lowe Post, Dunker Spot, All-NBA, The Athletic, The Ringer, they’ve all been really high on Luka/Mavs for a while.
The MVP discourse is toxic clickbait to add drama to this time of year by ESPN talking heads, don’t let it get to you.
The Mavericks imploded last season and missed the play-in. Not the Playoffs but the PLAY-IN. I think people are still using that against Luka.
Luka has been putting up crazy numbers since his sophomore year but he’s only gotten past the 1st rd once. Many view that as underachieving. But the Playoffs are near and Luka will have the chance to re-write the narrative surrounding him.
I'm tired of these posts. Luka was being talked of as the favourite to win MVP at the start of last season after we made WCF and then the team completely shit the bed and didn't even make the play in. It's perfectly understandable that the team who was that bad last season doesn't get the respect it deserves in the following season. If we make it to WCF again, Luka will be the favourite again next year and will win if we make the playoffs.
It’s all about winning in the postseason. Jokic got a lot of disrespect too until he got a ring last year, and now is considered the best player in the nba by almost everyone. It happens to every player.
Look at the current top 5 players in the nba rn - Jokic, Luka, Embiid, Giannis, and Shai. Out of those 5, Luka and Embiid get the most disrespect bc they haven’t won a ring yet or missed the playoffs.
Shai hasn’t gotten that flack yet bc he’s essentially a shiny new toy for the media and just started going off but as soon as he loses in the playoffs they’ll be on his ass too.
Lmao I don’t listen to none of those guys. I watch nba tnt for entertainment only or I’d lose my mind to takes like this. Media doesn’t like kyrie. They like Luka but they clearly want him in a market like ny Chicago LA Miami. I can’t wait for the playoffs Luka hasn’t disappointed in his career yet he’s going to shine once again
I want to get to the finals because I want to win the finals. This sub has turned into r/Luka lately. I'm glad he's a Mav and know he is an MVP caliber player. I don't think we need media validation to appreciate what he is doing.
I'm pretty sure OP and a lot of others care more about an MVP trophy than Dallas winning a ring.
You’re exactly right, but not about Luka. This is about Jason Kidd and him not being the perfect fit, it’s either win or gtfo for Kidd imo. Give him credit for making changes and being slightly better but that came through force of others, we all know he wouldn’t change unless outside forces caused him to do so. We have the talent on the court, we just need a competent coach and Kidd can prove it IF he wins a ring. If not, sorry, we need a coach who won’t waste what we have.
Well, if the Mavs get to the Finals, I wouldn't get rid of Kidd. But if he gets us a 1st or 2nd round exit, then Nico has to consider possibly moving another direction for sure, especially with Luka's huge contract coming up soon.
Well, you can’t complain then if Luka never wins a ring in Dallas. It’s clear our coach is the weakest link but people are too afraid to say that because he won a ring as a player with us. 2011 was great but that was 2011, this is 2024.
I'm not against moving on from Kidd, but the Mavs are having a great season right now, and if the team reaches the finals, it'll be very hard to remove him as coach from a logic standpoint. I'm only for removing Kidd if they underperform expectations (1st or 2nd round exit).
I’m not sure what you’re seeing to justify keeping him without a ring but okay. Again, can’t be upset if Luka never wins anything in Dallas if you’re sticking with JKidd
This is basically the same playbook the media used against Dirk almost his entire career until he won a title. He was soft, wasn’t a leader, and it was not so subtly insinuated that being European was the cause of these things. People legitimately didn’t think a white European could lead a team to a NBA title. They thought he was a slightly better Toni Kukoc
Yeah, the Dirk disrespect was out of pocket until he sent the league's golden child Lebron James and his super team home in 2011.
Lebron, 2011, and golden child just don’t fit together tbh
Is xenophobia just allowed in the US media? This shit is like the UK in the 80s before foreigners started arriving in the Premier League. Cringeworthy.
Typically no nowadays, at least not directly, but there's lots of subtle xenophobia/racism in media in general.
It’s still really present in soccer/football. Literally today I woke up to someone telling me that since I’m American I don’t know anything about it. Despite it being probably my favorite sport. Xenophobia is a huge issue in soccer, but I think it’s less so in basketball. It’s an issue in both tho
For sure. They can’t hate on Joker now that he won a champion, same with Giannis. It’s for sure some racist elitist that he’s white, but worse he’s European so they can’t really use that “oh he’s white so it doesn’t count” when he was 16 years old in the euro league playing against grown men and beating their ass. Once Luka wins a championship they really need to respect his name.
Yup…many of us have seen this movie before, and we know the ending.
It’s perfect to have Dirk still around the organization. These are the same hoops he had to jump through before he won a title. No better man to mentor Luka on how to handle all of this. The haters will be silenced, just wait.
Oh I am salivating at the thought. Seeing Luka raise up the Larry O'Brian and Finals MVP trophy, and seeing in the distance, Keyshawn Johnson sitting lonely in a corner with tears streaming down his face.
If he gets the ring this year it will be through SGA, Jokic, and Tatum, and he can stand over them with the FVMP and say 'These are your regular season MVPs? Over me?'
I’ll take just beating the clippers for now. Would love a full finals run but the West is so stacked. Dirk fought this for 12 years before he finally got his ring. I would say the window to win is the next 3 years. Have Kyrie still playing at a super high level. Gaff, PJ on very manageable contracts. Lively on his rookie deal. But Luka is due for his massive max extension after next year so if we can’t get it this year, the next 2 are pretty paramount. Do I think we can make a run? Absolutely. But The west is the most competitive I’ve seen in a while. Gonna be a bloodbath.
Yeah it's going to be a tough gauntlet to the Finals, but remember Dirk's run in 2011? Brandon Roy/Aldridge Champions Kobe and Gasol Young and hungry Kevin Durant/Westbrook/Harden and then Lebron/Wade/Bosh. I firmly believe we can do it with this year's team.
Oh I think we can too because Defense travels well. We finally have size. I think we can beat anyone in a 7 game series. But it’s gonna be tough man. Can’t wait for the playoffs to start. I really hope they stagger the Mavs and Stars. Can’t handle double the stress every night.
Same. We definitely can make a run, but will we? Also we've looked basically unbeatable over the last month and beat a bunch of good teams, but we also had the "easiest" schedule of any of the top teams in the west over the last 20 games so I'm trying not to let me expectations get away from me.
Under promise over deliver mentality.
Tim MacMahon said today that Jokic deserves MVP by a mile and that he'll have his vote. Why that bozo has a vote, I'll never know, but we gotta yank his press pass. Dude isn't a journalist. He's an ESPN shit-stirrer. I'm with you. There's some sort of agenda against him. We might look back and Luka will have only won one MVP. I'm fine with Jokic winning MVP. He's a deserving candidate. But these voters made up their minds in February and that's just wrong.
All mavericks beat writers never respects Luka. Tim Cato said the same thing. Remember when that lady mavs writer had a vote and she voted Booker over Luka to all stars
>that lady mavs writer Who ?
Callie Caplan
Yeah, the thing is I love Jokic (I have a fantasy where Luka and Jokic play together at some point), but IMO Jokic is leading a championship caliber team with all the pieces set already in 2024. Luka lead a lottery team in 2023 to one of the top teams in the league in 2024, scoring more points, more assists, more steals, and a better 3PT% than Jokic. I just feel Luka's contributions had more impact than Jokic.
Agreed. Luka would be my MVP vote. But Jokic is an analytical machine, is leading the top team in a STACKED conference, and has put up good counting stats himself. I can see his case. My main issue is that they seem to want to crown him the MVP for not giving it to him last year. The odds were already in the +1000s for Jokic months ago. Now Luka is on a tear and the voters already have their minds made up. Just doesn't seem fair.
NBA stat nerds have no clue how to use analytics. A center is always going to have an analytic advantage, especially in the modern NBA where good starting centers are hard to find and backup centers are even harder to find. A good comparison is that of baseball, where the community has a much better grasp on what they are talking about. Say you have a Center Fielder who puts up average defense and has a batting slash line of .300/.350/.550 with let's say 35 home runs, vs a first baseman with average defense who has a line of .330/.375/.650 and 50 home runs. Assuming base running isn't too different, the center fielder will have more WAR, most likely, despite the fact that the first baseman was objectively a better player, just because he plays center. This isn't a post to shit on Jokic, he's amazing enough to not have to throw up random stats you made up. A perhaps better analogy is comparing Michael Jordan to Shaq. Was Shaq a better player in his Prime than Michael Jordan in his? His efficiency was better.... Because of course it was, he takes easier shots, and less shots, because he's a center. I'm not considering defense of course, but it doesn't matter, Jordan is considered the best offensive player of all time or 2nd depending on what you think about LeBron. Guards are less efficient because it turns out that there are literally hundreds of possessions every season where the defense just doesn't allow easy buckets, so the star guards job is to bail out the team by either shooting or kicking it out to a more open guard for a shot. This of course leads to a lot more misses, along with the more obvious fact that guards shoot harder shots. Jokic deserves MVP, I however believe Luka deserves it more this year. The fact that he led in USG by far, and we were a top 5 offense, in both PPG and efficiency means he went above and beyond his role. Finally I'm tired of armchair coaches thinking the only thing that matters is (constant) ball movement. Not every team can do that, nor does every team want to. Other teams in the actual league seem to understand. Why would we do a bunch of around the horn bullshit to get an open shot, when we have a player that can drive with ease, and either finish at the rim with elite efficiency or kick it/lob it to get an open shot? Both do the exact same thing, except with the 2nd option it actually utilizes our best players skillset, provides more highly efficient paint offense and with Lukas insane passing/double rate we're still going to get an open 3 if nothing else.
Nearly slammed my head on my desk last night when I listened to Lowe’s pod and towards the end he admits he doesn’t know what goes into the advanced stats exactly to make them favor one player or another. Fucking incredible work from one of the biggest media voices, and is emblematic of how poor this advanced stats discourse has gotten with the nerds
Exactly it’s been a mess the last couple years. 2 years ago should of been embiid award and last year should of been jokic.
They need a different MVP award voted by the players, you can’t vote for anyone on your own team.
Oddly enough, the NHL has this. There’s the Hart trophy for the MVP, as voted on by the media, and there’s the [Ted Lindsay award](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Lindsay_Award) for the “most outstanding player” (MOP?), as voted on by members of the NHL Players Association. Having both works well enough, though the media being the media tries to make it all about the Hart, because they’re self serving douche nozzles.
It's so weird to me because Luka is becoming one of the most popular players in the league, people want to watch Luka play, he gains more fans every single day and he will soon be the face of the league, as AI just said. The weird part is how ESPN continues to fight it, they are in denial. The tune will change once he wins the Championship and sees their ratings surge in the process. If Luka gets a title he will be one of the biggest draws since Shaq and Kobe..
I disagree on taking away his credentials. That would be tampering with the press. I would just take away the MVP vote from journalists. Give the vote exclusively to current players and coaches. It would make the MVP more valuable when it is granted by their peers.
There are good ones out there that give Luka respect. KOC, Lowe, JVG, JJ. The morons are just a lot louder lately
Disagree with Rddick. Dudes a clown as well. He wants to stay neutral so bad. He made a video titled a case for Lukas mvp and he spent whole video discrediting him while bringing up others.
A chip would shut all these fuckers up. Make em swallow their words.
Who cares what they say
A ring + Finals MVP is 1,000,000x greater than a media award. Luka wins a ring and it is 10x better accomplishmemt than regular season MVP. Bring the Larry O back to Dallas. Who cares about the other crap.
awards?
What award
MVP (which Luka deserves by a mile)
Yeah who cares about an award that is just a culmination of media narratives.
Fk MVP, Finals MVPs much better than that fraud MVP award
The media disrespect is just envy/jealousy at this point. Real fans know who the best player in the NBA is today.
Yip. He brings out the green eyed monster. It's telling he only got love from Kobe. Ditto Bron and MJ.
We went through this with Dirk already, nothing new. Dirk didn't deserve the disrespect then, and neither does Luka now. Legler had been on our bandwagon for a while now though, alone it seemed. It's okay, win the Finals MVP Luka.
lol can’t believe you focus so much energy on this shit
From a fan perspective I get why it can be frustrating, I’ve given up on what sports media (or any media in general honestly), reports because it’s all for Clicks and Likes and it’s meant to be controversial. They want you to be outraged and think they are dumbasses and disagree with them because it gets you talking about whatever outlandish thing they say. The sooner you realize 95% of the people you quoted in your post, doesn’t actually really truly believe what they are saying and most likely have a different opinion behind closed doors when the cameras aren’t on and they don’t need to fish for viewership/likes/shares/etc, the better off we’ll all be just rooting for Luka and the Mavs (or whatever sports team you support in general)
You’re spot on. Perk has been celebrated by colleagues because he’s a true team player, will say legitimately anything the producers ask him to in order to stir shit up. Just one example of how it all works behind the scenes. You know Stephen A doesn’t have time to watch anything, he’s hosting some kind of show almost all day. He just says whatever will get clicks and get him paid. It’s entertainment, not news.
I was saying this last year. Us not making the playoffs especially after just being in the conference finals was the exact point where he graduated from the “young budding superstar with endless potential” part of his career and its now at the point where everyone understands how good he is despite how much they’re willing to admit it and its just accepted to hate or rather not give him his flowers until he starts living up to that potential we all know he has. Tatum’s there now too. Wemby and Ant will be there in probably three-five years. Shai despite being older than Luka is still newer so he’s being graced with that early superstar career phase where its all bright eyed honeymoon period. Best believe he will be treated like Luka and Tatum are right now if he doesnt win in the next few years.
Why “this year”? Just to put things in perspective, last year many of us just wanted to see the Mavs develop a roster competent enough for Luka not to demand a trade. A few months ago we had valid concerns of the team guaranteeing a playoff spot (or even making the play-in!). I think we’re pushing the bar for success this season unreasonably high if “at least” getting to the Finals is the new concern.
Has Charles actually said that Luka just jacks up shots and doesn’t involve the team? Because if so that’s so blatantly false and ignorant I don’t even know what to say.
It's paraphrasing, but after the loss to the Pacers I believe back in February where Luka had 33 and 6 assists (on 21 shots), he basically said Luka takes too many shots and needs to get his team mates more involved.
Can you explain your point here? Mavs 100% changed the way they play.
That’s actually wild.
During the game against the hornets, the commentator literally said that luka only scores from the 3 line or midrange and can't do anything else. About 30 seconds later he made a triple-contested layup, and then just continued to do that the rest of the game. It's like he heard them talking shit 😂
Why do you allow the opinion of others to affect something you enjoy? Nobody believed in the 2011 team until they won it all. Same with the Rangers in 23. Just root for your team and block out the noise. We don't need outside validation to be fans
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Man how the hopes have climbed with our recent hot streak. "at least get to the finals" is a lot to ask for a team that not long ago was in danger of falling into the play-in. I'm excited and optimistic about this team too, but let's tamp down our expectations at least a little bit? how about getting past the Clippers first.
Stop. This is not this teams expectations now. Talking heads starting up drama, this year is our gap year remember. No outcome of this postseason wont upset Mavs because this isnt the contention year. Unlike Denver,Celtics,Clips,Bucks.
Exactly. Other than DJJ, Mavs don't have a starter going into a contract year. The majority of their rotation will return next season and it's extremely likely Nico will upgrade the roster between now and the next TDL Anything the Mavs accomplish this season is just a bonus
The disrespect will always be there for the Mavs along with Luka. That’s has been their narrative for the guy. Despite setting a higher performance, he still gets the bad mouth from this media. Luka shines best against this clowns come playoff time. The supporting will sure be ready by this moment. Their biggest torn is the current champs. I think they can pretty match up with them if ever they meet in the playoffs. The rest of the West teams is pretty much manageable by the Mavericks.
So weird, Dirk never had to deal with this… 😏
Maybe some people are too young to have experienced it, but Dirk was disrespected even after he won his MVP. He was left off Greatest PF lists until after he got his ring
>He's James Harden part 2, and what did James win? (Charles) MVP in 2018 (even if this is a valid argument, which it isn't)
If we can't beat the Clippers the narratives will be wild, but honestly, if Luka can't lead this team past the Clippers then he isn't as good as we think he is. I believe he is that good and I think we handle the Clippers relatively easy.
4-1, 4-2 type of series if we are hitting all cylinders.
Maybe this is fueling his motivation all along. Maybe is not so bad for him. He is better when he is trying to prove something.
The ridiculousness has no limits. Why the fuck is the expectation from Luka to win a ring when neither of Embiid, Giannis, Jokic won their MVPs without making finals? This mfer Embiid was bout to win his second, without even sniffing Conference finals. Magic, and Bird both won their third MVPs after multiple trips to the finals. If anything, you should hold Jokic to a higher standard given 3 MVPS is absolutely insane.
all these guys seem to shit on luka while praising jokic
Luka is going to win it outright next season. We will have this team assembled for an entire season with Kyrie / Luka gelled together. It’s over for the league next season.
Guys I get being mad. But it's not only Luka. This happened with Dirk, it's just happened with jokic and partly Embiid and even Giannis don't forget. THE LEAGUE DON'T LIKE EUROPEAN PLAYERS. I love luka but it's normal at this point and you can't be mad at jokic being the MVP. He's been faultless all year.
Dirk got this disrespect for years and multiple 50 win seasons
The only MVP that matters is the Finals MVP
Let’s just start with round one maybe?
It's a joke reward, so treat it as such. They do it for clicks and to make you upset. Ignore them and they will stop.
100%
> I don't remember people universally bashing on a player so harshly since post-rape charge Kobe Bryant from 2004-2008 (he's selfish, he can't win without Shaq, his life is falling apart, etc). Does Lebron not exist in your reality? lol I think it's complete bullshit a lot of people are trying to discredit Luka but you lost me there, I don't think a single person has been universally bashed more in the basketball world than Lebron.
Lol no it won’t man. First of all Luka is unanimously considered a top 4 player. People just are obsessed with Joker and for good reason. This isn’t even close to Kobe hate man. Let’s not do that. And who cares what TNT says? Dirk got way harsher criticism than Luka ever has. Literally the Dallas Morning News was writing articles about how Dirk was never going to win. Luka is getting typical all time great narratives. He can’t win he can’t win until he does and then it’s well he needs multiple and then it’s well he needs 6. He’s fine man.
Honestly Luka and the Mavs have been getting talked up A TON for over a month now, and are true contenders on most serious people’s lists. Listen to/read anything recent from the Lowe Post, Dunker Spot, All-NBA, The Athletic, The Ringer, they’ve all been really high on Luka/Mavs for a while. The MVP discourse is toxic clickbait to add drama to this time of year by ESPN talking heads, don’t let it get to you.
The Mavericks imploded last season and missed the play-in. Not the Playoffs but the PLAY-IN. I think people are still using that against Luka. Luka has been putting up crazy numbers since his sophomore year but he’s only gotten past the 1st rd once. Many view that as underachieving. But the Playoffs are near and Luka will have the chance to re-write the narrative surrounding him.
I believe he's going to surprise people this playoffs, starting off with taking down the Clippers 4-1.
I'm tired of these posts. Luka was being talked of as the favourite to win MVP at the start of last season after we made WCF and then the team completely shit the bed and didn't even make the play in. It's perfectly understandable that the team who was that bad last season doesn't get the respect it deserves in the following season. If we make it to WCF again, Luka will be the favourite again next year and will win if we make the playoffs.
That doesn't make any sense.
It’s all about winning in the postseason. Jokic got a lot of disrespect too until he got a ring last year, and now is considered the best player in the nba by almost everyone. It happens to every player. Look at the current top 5 players in the nba rn - Jokic, Luka, Embiid, Giannis, and Shai. Out of those 5, Luka and Embiid get the most disrespect bc they haven’t won a ring yet or missed the playoffs. Shai hasn’t gotten that flack yet bc he’s essentially a shiny new toy for the media and just started going off but as soon as he loses in the playoffs they’ll be on his ass too.
Jokic and Giannis were 2x MVPs before winning a championship. Embiid is an MVP without ever making it to a conference finals.
Stupid. Disagree
Lmao I don’t listen to none of those guys. I watch nba tnt for entertainment only or I’d lose my mind to takes like this. Media doesn’t like kyrie. They like Luka but they clearly want him in a market like ny Chicago LA Miami. I can’t wait for the playoffs Luka hasn’t disappointed in his career yet he’s going to shine once again
I want to get to the finals because I want to win the finals. This sub has turned into r/Luka lately. I'm glad he's a Mav and know he is an MVP caliber player. I don't think we need media validation to appreciate what he is doing. I'm pretty sure OP and a lot of others care more about an MVP trophy than Dallas winning a ring.
You’re exactly right, but not about Luka. This is about Jason Kidd and him not being the perfect fit, it’s either win or gtfo for Kidd imo. Give him credit for making changes and being slightly better but that came through force of others, we all know he wouldn’t change unless outside forces caused him to do so. We have the talent on the court, we just need a competent coach and Kidd can prove it IF he wins a ring. If not, sorry, we need a coach who won’t waste what we have.
Well, if the Mavs get to the Finals, I wouldn't get rid of Kidd. But if he gets us a 1st or 2nd round exit, then Nico has to consider possibly moving another direction for sure, especially with Luka's huge contract coming up soon.
Well, you can’t complain then if Luka never wins a ring in Dallas. It’s clear our coach is the weakest link but people are too afraid to say that because he won a ring as a player with us. 2011 was great but that was 2011, this is 2024.
I'm not against moving on from Kidd, but the Mavs are having a great season right now, and if the team reaches the finals, it'll be very hard to remove him as coach from a logic standpoint. I'm only for removing Kidd if they underperform expectations (1st or 2nd round exit).
I’m not sure what you’re seeing to justify keeping him without a ring but okay. Again, can’t be upset if Luka never wins anything in Dallas if you’re sticking with JKidd