Luka Doncic missed his Dallas homecoming on Sunday night thanks to a hamstring injury, and Jason Kidd did not hold back his NBA criticism after the Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Dallas Mavericks are not going to make the playoffs this season, but that doesn't mean they can't play spoiler. On Sunday, they beat the Los Angeles Lakers in Dallas, 134-128, on the back of stellar play by Cooper Flagg.
Instead of the rookie, however, all eyes were on Luka Doncic, who missed the game with a hamstring injury. It was later revealed that Doncic will travel home to Europe in an effort to rush his recovery, hoping to return for the postseason.
Los Angeles is 12-3 over their last 15 games, rapidly climbing up the standings and currently are third in the Western Conference, good for home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. However, with Doncic out, the Lakers' odds will take a serious hit.
After the game, Jason Kidd noted just how good his former player has been for the Lakers, slamming the NBA in the process.
Kidd Supports Luka, Urges NBA to Make Change
This season, Doncic is leading the league with 33.5 points to go with 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds per game, all while taking over as the face of one of the NBA's most storied teams.
During the Lakers' 15-game surge up the standings, Doncic posted an efficient 37.9 points per game, single-handedly ensuring LA would hold onto home court. While Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, and Nikola Jokic looked the part of the MVP, Doncic had a strong case of his own.
However, his season ended at 64 games played, not only making him ineligible for MVP, but also for the All-NBA team, which he certainly would have made.
“It’s unfortunate, not just for Luka, but there are others in that same situation,” Kidd said to Dwain Price. “Again, Luka is having an MVP season. He’s playing at a very, very high level, and for him to get hurt and not to be rewarded for that season is unfortunate. So hopefully, as I know, the NBA will look at these cases and hopefully find a way to make sure that guys don’t get left off the list.”
Kidd is not the first to say the NBA should re-examine the 65-game rule for individual awards, and with Cooper Flagg the only player on the Mavericks in the running for any sort of recognition, it makes sense that Kidd will campaign for the most talented player he ever coached.
The Lakers are unsure when (or if) Doncic will return, although they will save him for the postseason, ending one of his best individual seasons.