Luka Doncic: Can Mavericks Win Despite Whine?

Mavs' Luka Doncic loses weight but retains temper, Troy Aikman throws shade at Cowboys' Jerry Jones, rival sends Rangers into death spiral, and sarcastic pity for "poor" American Airlines, all in this week's DFW sports notebook.

WHITT'S END 9.8.23:

Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …

*Luka Doncic has lost some weight. But, unfortunately, he’s kept all of his temper.

After acknowledging his excessive whining to referees is a problem that needs solving, the Dallas Mavericks’ star again blew a gasket while playing for his home Slovenia. Doncic was ejected from this week’s FIBA World Cup quarterfinal loss to Canada in which he repeatedly screamed at tournament executives and ultimately was whistled for two technical fouls for complaining about non-calls.

It’s the second consecutive year he’s been ejected from a Slovenia elimination game in a big international tournament. And it’s no longer a trend, it’s his DNA.

In each of the last two seasons for the Mavs Luka has picked up 17 technicals, avoiding suspension only when one each year was rescinded by the league office. For the Mavs to get back to the NBA Finals, Doncic has to handle the ball … and also his emotions.

*Jimmy Johnson still doesn’t have a date for entering the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor and his former quarterback is none too pleased about it. In a Thursday interview with Fox 4’s Mike Doocy, Troy Aikman blasted owner Jerry Jones for leaving Johnson on the outside looking in at one of the most exclusive and coveted clubs in American sports.

“I thought it was the Dallas Cowboys Ring Honor,” Aikman said. “But he’s made it the Jerry Jones Ring of Honor. It’s beyond disappointing that Jimmy’s not up there.”

Aikman, of course, won three Super Bowls in the 1990s with Johnson (okay, one under Barry Switzer, but you know ... ), and presented the coach at his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021. He was on Fox’s set in Canton that Summer when Jones told Johnson – on live TV, mind you – that he was going into the Ring of Honor.

Joked Johnson, “While I’m still alive?!”

But now, more than two years later, Johnson, Cowboys fans and Aikman don’t think Jerry’s petty power play is the least bit funny.

“I speak for myself … but I also think I speak for everyone who played on those teams in the ’90s that Jimmy coached,” Aikman said. “I wouldn’t be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame – nor would Emmitt (Smith) or Michael (Irvin) or Charles Haley or anyone else – if it weren’t for what Jimmy meant to those teams. For him not to be represented … Jerry did say he would go in, and we thought it would have happened by now.”

Aikman said he has talked privately with Jones about Jimmy’s omission, but … “There’s really not much else to say.”

Last month Jones announced that DeMarcus Ware would be inducted into the Ring of Honor later this season, while the 80-year-old Johnson will be forced to wait at least another year.

*The NFL is all about parity, but this is obscenely predictable. After a Tampa two-step against Tom Brady the last two seasons, the Cowboys get re-acquainted Sunday night with their most familiar Week 1 foe … the New York Giants.

Over their last 12 season openers, the Cowboys will have played the Giants seven times. Not that they’re complaining, because in the previous six lid-lifters they are 5-1. The lone win at the Giants during the span was 2012, when Kevin Ogletree’s two touchdown catches sparked a 24-17 victory.

I get it, the NFL and its TV partners want to kick-off the season with boffo ratings. America’s Team plus America’s biggest TV market – Sunday night, in primetime – equals a, um, giant audience. But despite the method, this feels like redundant madness.

And if the Giants aren’t enough New York for you, one guess who the Cowboys host in Week 2. Yup, Aaron Rodgers’ new squad. Throw in the Jets and the Cowboys will have faced a Big Apple team in eight of their last 13 Week 1s.

By contrast, Dallas last opened against the Washington Commanders in 2010; the Philadelphia Eagles way back in 2000.

*The Cowboys don’t play until Sunday night, but football season arrived Wednesday. Specifically, when Texas Rangers’ hired gun and supposed streak stopper Max Scherzer allowed a two-run homer in the first inning of what became another humiliating blowout loss to the hated Houston Astros. The table was set for us to be fixated – or at least mildly interested – with September baseball for the first time since 2016. The Cowboys haven’t won diddly squat in 27 years. The Mavs quit last season. The Dallas Stars pratfalled in the playoffs. This week the spotlight belonged to the Rangers. But … ouch. After an eight-game losing streak in August, in September they have lost five of six including the sobering three-game sweep to Houston in which they were outscored by an astounding 39-10. While the Astros became the first team in Major League Baseball history to score 12+ runs and hit 5+ homers in three straight games, the Rangers limped out of the butt-kicking in third place of an AL West they not long ago controlled. With 23 games remaining they find themselves out of the playoffs for the first time since April 8 and without a win from a starting pitcher in the last 19 games.

*There’s a reason greyhound owners never let their dogs actually catch the rabbit. I set a personal training goal more than a year ago. Irrationally out of reach, I thought at the time. But this week, voila. So … now what? It was exhilarating, yet also a tad deflating. Much as I don’t like Tom Brady and his seven Super Bowl rings, makes me respect his ability – his willpower – to repeatedly climb the mountain.

Xinhua/Sipa USA

*Haven’t been to Six Flags in like 15 years. But the return of the log ride might be enough to lure me back.

*So why didn’t Jerry consult coach Mike McCarthy or quarterback Dak Prescott before pulling the trigger on the trade for Trey Lance? Basically, because he didn’t have to.

*Hot.

*Not.

*As a rookie in 2016, Dak lost both his starts against the Giants. But he hasn’t been defeated by them since. Prescott has beaten the Giants 10 consecutive games, throwing for 23 touchdowns against only seven interceptions in the process.

*Made a quick trip to Austin last weekend and the drought has Lake Travis at only 37 percent of its capacity. Boat ramps once underwater are now 50-yard walks from the water. In a sorta-related revelation, I’ll never not be wowed by the sheer size of Buc-ee’s.

*The Mavs’ Christian Wood experiment failed. Spectacularly. He averaged 16 points and seven rebounds in 67 games, but coach Jason Kidd never regarded him as a starter because of his lack of commitment to playing defense. And, after signing a two-year contract with the Lakers this week, Wood let the world know he was not cool with coming off the bench for an NBA Lottery team. Says Wood, “I’m looking forward to this, and I’m for sure motivated after what Dallas did.” Or is it what Wood does to himself? Next season he’ll play for his eighth team in eight seasons.

*McCarthy is 30-20 as coach of the Cowboys, but 0-3 in season openers.

*If you’ve ever played “credit card roulette” with a big group to see who pays for all of dinner, you know you don’t want your card picked. But in a clever spin on that risky game, The Porch restaurant in Dallas is allowing parties of eight or more to each put a red poker chip in a bag. If the waiter pulls out a green chip, however, the entire meal is free. You have to book a reservation and it’s limited to $600, but still … fun!

*After watching Astros’ second baseman Jose Altuve hit five homers in two nights at Globe Life Field, was I the only one thinking “Oh, he must have gotten his buzzer fixed.”? Anyone at the series hear any weird banging noises coming from the Trashstros’ dugout?

*A bettor at Caesar’s sportsbook in Las Vegas placed a $10,000 wager on Cowboys’ running back Deuce Vaughn to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. If correct, the bet will net him a cool $1 million.

*Deion Sanders is a lot of things. Humble isn’t one of them.

*If you’re up around 5 a.m. these days and are a sky geek like me, you can look up and see Jupiter flirting with the waning Moon. And brilliantly shining near the horizon in the east? That’s Venus, bright as a flashlight a mere 35 million miles from Earth.

*So Luka’s gonna cry all the way to the bank. Projections have him as the NBA’s first player to make $80 million ... per season.

*Bad news: Rangers’ slugger Adolis Garcia injured his knee in the finale against Houston trying to snag a homer, and has been placed on the 10-day injured list. Worse news: Of Houston’s final 21 games, 12 are against losing teams with zero playoff hopes (including nine layups against the horrendous A’s and Royals).

*You get drunk. You drive. You hit – and kill – a person on the side of the road, who was a Good Samaritan helping people involved in an accident. You don’t stop to render aid, instead driving off. You – in my world – turn in your license and never drive again. You shouldn’t get a second chance, because the person you killed will never get a second chance to be a Good Samaritan.

*Jerry certainly wants to win. But his answer this week on his 105.3 The Fan radio show about losing not ruining his life only adds fuel to the fire of critics who claim he’s content with the Cowboys being merely popular and profitable. “It’s frustrating for fans; frustrating for me,” Jones said. “But I read the other day where Jerry Jones must be having a miserable life. Well, it’s not been a miserable life by any stretch of the imagination. Because before I got involved in the NFL I didn’t have any chance at this kind of big success. I want a team that will give us a chance again, and I think we’ve got that.”

*To no one’s surprise, the Cowboy and Eagles were voted to have the NFL’s most annoying fans. Can’t really have a fierce rivalry without annoying fans now can you?

*Poor American Airlines. The company was recently fined $4.1 million by the Department of Transportation for keeping passengers waiting on planes during lengthy tarmac delays. Passengers on a flight from DFW to Orlando in 2021 were forced to sit on the plane for six hours. What will the airline do? How can it possibly pay the fine? American made of a profit of $1.3 billion … just in the second quarter of 2023.

*Among those predicting the Cowboys will play in February’s Super Bowl LVIII: Jim Nantz. Rob Gronkowski. Skip Bayless. And, not surprisingly, new FS1 analyst Michael Irvin. For what it’s worth, NFL Network’s Peter Schrager has correctly predicted the last four champs and this year’s he’s going with Chiefs over 49ers. He thinks the Cowboys will miss the playoffs.

*My crystal (foot)ball says Cowboys 23, Giants 17, on their way to 10-7.

*This Weekend? Friday let’s watch Rangers-A’s. Saturday let’s watch Texas-Alabama. Sunday let’s watch Cowboy-Giants. Sensing a trend here? As always, don’t be a stranger.