Is Luka Doncic the Maverick’s MVP?
Uh, yes
While trying to decide from what angle to create discussion around the Maverick’s fairly consistent level of basketball play over the past couple of weeks, I happened upon a Dallas Morning News article published online just yesterday entitled Is P.J. Washington Jr. the Dallas Mavericks’ most valuable player?
That title seems designed to goad a certain someone, I thought to myself. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to read it because, to my surprise, it was comprised of member-exclusive content. After refreshing the page about fifteen times and piecing together all those one-second flashes of member-exclusive content before the subscription window would pop up and blur the article, I was able to ascertain (I think) the main point that its author intended to posit: P.J.’s game has very been strong lately.
If that’s the idea, I absolutely agree. My curiosity was raised.
Did the author truly mean to provide supporting evidence here that someone other than Luka is the team’s MVP? As solid as P.J. has been since arriving in Dallas, it doesn’t seem likely that the question posed in the title was suggested in full sincerity.
P.J. Washington is unquestionably one of my favorite players on this Dallas Mavericks team. I spent plenty of time this off-season declaring his individual importance for the Maverick’s hopes at recreating a championship-caliber team this year. Dallas was 1-5 during his brief injury absence early on. Not only did they miss his steady 12.7 points per game (good for 90th in the league, currently), or simply his outstanding defense and extremely valuable rebounding; what became apparent is that this team misses P.J.’s energy when he isn’t in the lineup, more than anything else.
Kyrie brought offensive leadership in spades to begin the season, as he always does, especially during times when Luka was either a bit off of his game or else was nursing an injury. That’s not anything new, though. That’s what Kyrie does. And anyone who watched the Mavericks’ run to the finals last season knows that this is what P.J. does, too. He brings blow-your-house-down energy, especially when the stakes are high. He’s typically tasked with guarding the opposing team’s best scorer, and he has a reputation for making things tough for them.
Pretty much everyone in the starting lineup has something that they’re kind of known for, something that they do. For Luka Doncic, that something is being one of the most gifted players in the world; at the age of 25, he’s already a blossoming representative of the all-time greats list. That’s his thing. At the same time, though, he also has that other thing where he gets really grumpy with the referees, spends play after F$$$ing play responding to their whistles with increasingly emotional theatrics, and thereby creates really annoying energy for his teammates as a result.
So, Luka has two things.
The former thing, no doubt, ultimately outshines the latter, at least for those within the city of Dallas. But his reputation as an unapologetic sniveller has grown far and wide, as well.
I could be dead-wrong, but with the Morning News headline reading as it does, logic led me to assume that, perhaps, that article ended by pointing to P.J. Washington’s uniquely infectious energy as being the most consistent force for this very talented team. At this point in the season, 25 games in, that isn’t a bad take at all. If P.J. wasn’t on this team, I’d be less invested. His acquisition and immediate production was a major reason Dallas played in the championship last year.
While there’s no question who the engine that drives this team’s success has been, currently is, and/or will be, I have, nevertheless, finally begun to feel a very strong sense of team-first type of camaraderie stirring amongst this group of players. It obviously became a large part of their identity last year, though it wasn’t always so in season’s past. For all of Luka’s career prior to last season, he was a star without strong contributors surrounding him. Things have changed. And if the trend continues to manifest itself and shape the future of this team, its full realization could push them to become a better version of the 23-24 squad (that’s what we want). Dallas’s brass has been doing well of late, itself, to make this reality possible.
It’s very likely Doncic will make another case for himself as MVP of the NBA this season. He’s entering his prime and has already shown the world what he’s made of. He’s a bad, bad dude on the basketball court. That said, it would make watching games a great deal more rewarding if he would stop complaining about whistles. What he does is undeniable, both the amazing and the unnecessary. He’s changing the game on both fronts, because that’s what he does.
