Dallas Basketball

Charles Barkley on Mavs’ Luka & Kyrie Duo: ‘Not Going to Work’

NBA legend and TNT analyst Charles Barkley claims that Dallas Mavericks stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving aren’t going to work together … but the data from last season states otherwise.

Dalton Trigg

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As the new NBA season approaches, more and more national media pundits are voicing their doubts about the Dallas Mavericks’ star duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving being able to win big together.

The latest example of this came on a recent episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, as NBA legend Charles Barkley joined the show and gave his thoughts on the Mavs re-signing Irving and how he’ll play with Doncic going forward.

"Yeah, I was surprised,” Barkley said of the Mavs giving Irving a three-year, $126 million contract this summer. “I was surprised they gave him that much money … I don't think the Luka-Kyrie thing is gonna work.” … and Bill Simmons agreed with him.

With a lot of these doom-and-gloom predictions, it seems the people forking them out are focusing more on the Mavs’ overall results as a team last season — results that came due to a lack of depth and bad injury timing —and not the Doncic-Irving pairing specifically.

Together, Doncic and Irving were one of the most potent offensive duos in the league. In 900 possessions where both stars shared the floor, the Mavs were plus-4.6 per 100 possessions and scored 121.7 points per 100 possessions with a 60.2 effective field goal percentage.

What people don’t seem to fully understand is that there’s no question about Doncic and Irving being able to work together — it has already happened and will continue to happen. The real question is, what will the other players around them do?

With a revamped roster, including defensive-minded players like Grant Williams, Dereck Lively II, OMax Prosper, Dante Exum and Derrick Jones Jr. … as well as one of the best shooters in league history in Seth Curry … we’re excited to find out the answer to that question.

Follow Dalton Trigg on Twitter. SUBSCRIBE to Mavs Step Back on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Dallas Mavericks? Click Here. Follow DallasBasketball.com on Twitter and Facebook.

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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.

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