Remember when Kyrie Irving was viewed because the missing piece in Dallas?
Well, that went away quickly, but apparently, the organization doesn’t think it’s his own doing, at the same time as it entered Sunday at 36-38 in a tie for tenth within the Western Conference standings, sitting in eleventh place because of a tiebreaker.
The Mavericks, who were 6-8 in games by which Irving has played entering Sunday’s game against the Hornets, have praised Irving for “his professionalism and locker room presence,” in accordance with ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
Dallas acquired Irving from the Nets days before the NBA trade deadline after the guard requested a trade out of Brooklyn.
Markieff Morris also went to the Mavericks while the Nets received Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and draft picks, including a future first-rounder.
The report got here after the Mavericks blew what felt like a must-win game against the tanking, 24-win Charlotte Hornets on their home floor.
Together with Irving, head coach Jason Kidd and star Luka Doncic voiced their discontent following the embarrassing 117-109 loss, which included a 69-55 halftime deficit.
“[We] probably must have been booed in the primary quarter, just the trouble within the play,” Kidd said Friday night. “They’ve a right [to boo]. They paid to see a greater show. It wasn’t there until the second half. We will’t come out like that, especially this time of the 12 months.”
The frustration doesn’t seem like between the on-court partnership with Doncic and Irving, nevertheless.
The Mavericks had one other crack on the Hornets Sunday — they trailed by 14 after the primary quarter — which begins a five-game road trip, including matchups with the likely playoff-bound Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat.
Irving can also be relatively famously within the last 12 months of a four-year, $136 million deal originally signed with the Nets in the summertime of 2019.
Irving, who just turned 31 years old, will grow to be an unrestricted free agent following the conclusion of his twelfth NBA season.