Luka Doncic Vulnerable After Mavericks Loss: 'Frustrating For A Lot of Reasons'

Frustration rises in Dallas following Friday's loss to Charlotte, which leaves Luka Doncic yearning for answers.

Michael Mulford | Mar 25, 2023

Talk about yet another untimely loss for the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavs fell in disappointing fashion to the Charlotte Hornets, 117-109, on Friday night to fall outside of the play-in race to the No. 11 seed in the West.

Outside of a few bursts of energy here and there in the second half, Dallas showed up with little-to-no energy or effort, letting the lottery-bound Hornets dominate the game.

Following the loss, Luka Doncic spoke to to the media in what was quite possibly the most distraught he's been in his time as a Maverick.

Doncic answered, "I don't know," to the first handful of questions but opened up about frustrations and not feeling like himself due to "a lot of reasons."

"It’s really frustrating. I think you can see it with me on the court. Sometimes I don't feel it’s me," Doncic said. "I'm just being out there, you know? I used to have really fun smiling on court, but it's just been so frustrating for a lot of reasons, not just basketball."

When asked what's been going on outside of basketball, Doncic declined to respond. "You know I don't talk about my private life."

It's the most visibly frustrated Doncic has been after a loss in some time, but also, that answer might be the most vulnerable he's been without actually diving into his personal matter.

Whether those non-basketball reasons are related to the organization or actually personal matters is up to pure speculation, but it's impossible to know for sure with Doncic.

What we do know, though, is that Dallas' superstar is frustrated with where his team is, and they have eight games to fix it before more questions and concerns begin to circulate. Winning cures all, and the Mavs need that antidote in a hurry.

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Published Mar 25, 2023

MICHAEL MULFORD

Michael Mulford is a writer/editor for Dallas Basketball, where he extensively covers the Dallas Mavericks. He also covers the Chicago Bulls as the Managing Editor for Bulls Wire of USA Today Sports Media Group. Mulford grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and graduated from the University of North Texas in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Event, and Sports Management. He began his pursuit of sports writing in 2017 with Dallas Sports Fanatic, where he covered the Mavericks’ G League affiliate, Texas Legends. He then became the Managing Editor of Dallas Sports Fanatic just one year later and has covered the Mavericks as a credentialed media member since 2018, including covering numerous playoff games between 2021-22 and covering the team at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in 2019. In his time covering the Mavericks, Mulford has conducted numerous interviews for exclusive stories including with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki, former Maverick and current VP of Basketball Ops Michael Finley, former Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson, and more. You can follow and interact with Mulford on Twitter at @TheMulf.